Keep Dreaming Upside Down
by thewordsilack
Summary: There will always be that one person that will drive you insane. For Haley James, that one person happens to be the arrogant Nathan Scott. What happens when she wakes up the next morning to find him lying next to her? AU Naley. INDEFINITE HIATUS
1. In This World

There will always be that one person that will drive you insane. For Haley James, that one person happens to be the arrogant Nathan Scott. She didn't really know him, but she knew of him. Well, every person at Tree Hill High did. Even if they didn't know each other, somehow he still could push her buttons. Haley couldn't stand him or the way others acted around him like he was some form of a God. He isn't. In reality, he was just some high ego, rich, popular, teenaged jock.

Is that a fair judgment? Haley didn't care because she had a long list of proof. For starters, his father owned a huge corporation and somehow ended up as the mayor of Tree Hill. In Nathan's favor, that meant fancy cars and expensive watches. He always had money around. With the riches came the bitches. Haley was pretty sure every girl in the senior class has slept with Nathan. Well, except for her. The thought of ever falling for his charm sent cringes through her body. Haley has heard the countless stories of girls who had sex with him and then waking up with no evidence that he was even there. He would tell all his friends about it and they would bask in the Nathan Scott glory. She was sure that he was incapable to care about another person as much as he cared about himself. Of course, the icing on top of the cake, Nathan was the star player on the school's basketball team. Haley didn't follow sports, but most of the school's athletic highlights revolved around him. Most guys want to be him. Most girls want to be with him. He was on his high horse. She could just roll her eyes.

Her friends agreed with her that Nathan Scott lived with his head in the clouds. They would know because they used to be friends with the guy. Lucas Roe used to be Nathan's best friend in middle school. They would always talk about sports or play ball together. Then things changed once high school started. People seem to always fall apart from their true friends during that period. Lucas said that as a freshman Nathan was taken under the wing of the popular senior, Damien West. There were times when Nathan would still talk to Lucas, but those times began to diminish. Nathan was seen with Damien and that made him just as important as Damien. The other person who disappeared from Scott's life was his old girlfriend, Peyton Sawyer. She had her rude and sarcastic comments about him, just like the Haley and Lucas did. They broke up because Nathan started seeing girls for their looks and his boost on the social scale. Also, Damien didn't approve of Nathan being seen with a girl who liked good rock music and basically couldn't stand the cliché rich popular kids.

~*~

Haley waited at her locker for her two friends like she did every morning. Also like every morning, she would hear the sounds of the basketball team congratulate Nathan with hooking up with a college girl. What was so cool about that? The girl probably was just lied to and charmed right into sleeping with him.

"So who was it this time?"

Haley turned to see her curly haired friend leaning against her locker and looking at the group of rowdy jocks.

"I'm so glad that I never lost my virginity to that." She said glumly.

"Well, you dated him. I mean he probably hasn't had a titled girlfriend since you. You escaped just in time." Haley joked.

Peyton chuckled. Honestly, she didn't miss Nathan at all. She knew she never loved him. First of all she was only thirteen when they dated. Second of all he probably had forgotten that part of his life, the times where he was considered a good person.

Peyton was about to respond when the morning bell rang. "I'll see you at lunch Hales."

Haley sighed as she watched Peyton take off. She knew that she would have to get going as well and that meant turning around and facing Nathan Scott. As she turned on her heel, she walked towards her first class. She groaned, as the group around Nathan seemed to have grown in size. She hoped that she wouldn't be late for class due to them. She decided not to let them block her. Haley looked down to the floor as she tried to move through the group. As she pushed onward she heard people complaining and calling her a bitch. Rolling her eyes she bumped into someone.

"Sorry," she mumbled as she looked up. Then she saw who it was. "Actually, I'm not sorry." It was just her luck. Towering over her was Nathan Scott. His arms were folded over his chest as he looked down at her.

As he looked down at the girl he started to smirk. Usually, when the girls saw his smirk they blush ridiculously and they start acting all giddy. He kinked his eyebrow as she scoffed at him and walked away. He shrugged it off and returned to explaining to the guys the anatomy of a wild college girl.

_Seriously, he used his smirk on me? How old does he think he is? Smiling halfway is the best way to get girls to drop to their knees and… _Haley shook her head to try and stop her mind from thinking any further. That's not the image she wanted in her mind this morning or really ever.

Haley entered her classroom. It was obvious that the teacher wasn't in yet because there were kids sitting on top of desks. The loud constant repeat of "fuck" as some girl talked about her parents not understanding her.

What a great morning this turned out to be.

~*~

"Did he really?" Peyton started laughing. "I never thought I'd see the day when you would be the one receiving the smirk."

Haley rested her head on the table. "I'm glad you think that it's so hilarious." She muttered. She lifted her head.

"You're the one who's acting like it's the end of the world. It's no big deal. If it makes you feel any better, Nathan could never get in your pants anyway " Peyton reassured.

"Why are we talking about Nathan getting in Haley's pants?" Lucas asked disgustedly as he joined them.

"We're not." Haley said defensively. "I was just having an immature moment and Peyton was just trying to help me out."

Haley didn't want to worry Lucas. Lucas was protective over Haley due to the fact that his old friend was corrupting the female population. He always told Haley to watch out for him. Of course, Peyton would back him up because she knew what it was like to have Nathan Scott's tongue jammed down her throat.

"Don't worry about Hales. She told him that she wasn't sorry for bumping into him. Well done." She chuckled.

"Why am I friends with you again?" She frowned as Peyton continued to chuckle at her own sarcasm. "I know that sometimes I don't always say the right things, but that's no excuse for reminding me over and over again,"

Lucas chose to ignore what was going on around him until both girls started talking about something else. "Are you guys going to Brooke Davis's party tonight?"

Haley stopped and turned to Lucas. "You got invited to Brooke's party?"

Brooke Davis wasn't just the bubbly cheer squad captain. She was also Nathan's cousin. Does that automatically make you think that she would be as careless as he is? She isn't ashamed of being related to him at all. They're more like friends. She may be popular, as well, but she won't jump into any guys' bed. Haley respected that about the brunette.

"You say that like it's incredulous. It's a walk in party. So I didn't exactly get invited." He watched as Haley smiled at him, before continuing, "anyway, her parents left for California so she's throwing this huge party."

"Seems like she's just striving for attention." Peyton commented.

Another thing about Brooke Davis is that Peyton is not her biggest fan. Haley didn't understand what made Peyton despise her so much. Haley wasn't a friend with Brooke either, but she didn't seem as bad as some other girls at the school.

"That's sucks that her parents are just leaving her. I couldn't imagine how she feels." Haley said as she picked at her plate.

"Haley, she doesn't care. She'll throw her party and just forget about it in the morning as she nurses her hangover. Lucas only suggested it because he's had an enormous crush on her since the sixth grade."

"She has personality." Lucas argued. "A positive one,"

Haley knew what was going to come next. "Well, when you guys are done arguing I'll be heading to the library." She stood up and threw her bag over her shoulder. "Oh and Luke,"

"Yeah?"

"I think I'll go to the party with you tonight."

She wasn't the one to jump at a chance to go to one of these parties that people like Nathan and Brooke would throw. Haley saw it more as a way to support Lucas. This was going to be hard for him because Nathan was probably going to be there. Another reason was that he did think that Brooke was attractive. What guy wouldn't?

~*~

Brooke bounded over to her cousin and his friends. "Nathan, do you think you and the team could get me some alcohol for the party tonight?"

"Don't your parents have a stash in the house?" He asked her.

"It's not going to be enough."

"Well, you're the one who decided to have a walk in party. Do you really think that's a good idea? Anyone is just going to walk into your house."

"I know what a walk in is, would you just relax. You've never complained about one of my parties before."

"That's only because people who were meant to be there were there. Now, I wouldn't be surprised if some nerd strolled on in and lived the good life." He sighed as his hazel-eyed cousins pouted. He enveloped her in a hug. "I'm just looking out for you, Brooke. You understand that right?"

She nodded in his embrace. Of course, she knew that Nathan cared about her. He always had. It didn't matter to her who he was seen as. She knew who he was at heart,

She pulled away and wiped under her eyes so it never looked like she was crying. "So, I'll see you tonight then?"

"Yeah, I'll be there." He sighed as he watched Brooke leave.

From now on, his cousin was going to be alone and that killed him. As much as he wanted to protect her vulnerability tonight, he knew that he would be too busy keeping his locked away as another girl was about to become a notch in his bedpost.

~*~

Driving up to the big white house was the least of Haley's worries, getting lost in the mass of people on the other hand scared her to death. She was now in the house with what appeared to be every student in Tree Hill. Haley stays close to Lucas, as they get further into the house. Looking around, she watched as people put their red plastic cups to their lips. All around her people were dancing while spilling alcohol on the floor. Girls were dancing wildly with each other and the guys either joined in or watched them mindlessly. People sat on couches and were enjoying making out with complete strangers as other people ran up the stairs to find a quiet room to have sex with someone they'll soon forget as the cycle repeats itself.

"Do you want a drink?" Lucas shouted over the loud blaring music.

"No thanks." She answered back, hoping that he could hear her. "I'll go look for Brooke if you want me to."

"Are you sure? Maybe we should stay together, Hales."

"Just go. I'll be fine." _I hope._

"Okay, try not to go to far. I'll be right back." He promised.

Haley stood just stood there, not really knowing where to start looking for a girl she never talked to. She wasn't still for long as people from all sides began bumping into her as they danced.

The song switched to one that Haley remembered hearing on the radio. Knowing that she wasn't really going to be able to find Brooke, she started to get into the beat of the music. She didn't really start dancing until she made sure that none of the horny guys had their eyes on her.

~*~

As Lucas filled his drink at the keg, he heard a loud sweet laugh. He walks over to the open backdoor and sees that the laugh belonged to Brooke Davis. She was drinking and enjoying the company of the basketball team minus Nathan. He leaned against the doorframe and took a sip of his beer as he watched her smiling.

~*~

She continued swaying her hips to the music. Haley had no clue how long it has been since Lucas has gone off to get a drink. She couldn't believe that she was dancing at a party alone. The funny thing was that she wasn't self-conscious about it either.

A pair of warm hands landed on both of her sides, which caused her to stop and freeze in place. She was afraid to turn around to see what drunken guy stood behind her. Curiosity was something she could never beat. The hands never left her side. The hands of Nathan Scott continued to grip her curves.

He stared at her dumbfounded. He leaned his mouth down to her ear. "Why'd you stop? It was just getting sexy."

Haley scoffs and pushes his hands off of her. "You have no right to touch me."

"You do that a lot." He told her cockily. He walks back up to her and places his hands lower that her sides. "Why don't you just relax? The party's just getting started."

Haley rejected him again as she more forcefully removed his hands from her. "Does no mean anything to you? There is no way that you're going to get anywhere with me."

Nathan chuckled at her. He had to admit that her feistiness was turning him on. Her rejection to his ways intrigued him. There was no way that she was going to say no to him at the end of the night.

"Let's go get you a drink," He suggested as he grabbed her hand. Maybe after he loosened her up a bit, she would be more willing.

Haley's eyes went wide. He could not be serious. She would have guessed that he would just give up and go find someone easier. _ This cannot be happening to me. _Haley also hoped that Lucas was still in the kitchen and that he would beat some sense into Nathan that she would never be interested.

Nathan felt her squirm behind him. He turned his head to her. "You really need to calm down. I don't want people to think that I'm trying to force you into anything."

_That's exactly what you're doing! _Haley ignored him. She dug her nails into his hand.

Nathan released her hand. "What the fuck is your problem?" He asked as he examined his hand. "Fuck."

Haley sent him a smirk of her own this time. "I'm sure people would love to know that you drag girls against their will to have sex with them. You're a monster." She spat.

He copied her as well and scoffed. "Who would ever believe you? I mean sure, you have the innocent look going on. I'm sorry baby, but every girl at this party wouldn't have a probably if I blew their minds tonight."

He had to stop walking closer to her. "What makes you think that you're some kind of exception?" His face was now inches away from hers.

Haley closed her eyes to keep herself from looking at him. That sent Nathan the wrong message.

He chuckled huskily. "That's what I thought." His mouth met hers in a forceful kiss.

~*~

Haley quickly sat up in her bed. The sun crept its way through her window. She breathed heavily. She wiped the sweat off her brow before lying back down. "God, I just had the worst nightmare." She sighed hoping to forget about it.

"I'm sorry, baby." She heard a soft caring voice answer her. Then Haley felt a kiss being placed on her neck and someone's nose nuzzle into her neck. "Do you want me to help you forget about it?"

Haley froze. Did she dare turn around this time to see who she was sharing her bed with?

…………….

**Was anyone confused about this chapter?**

**This idea just popped in my head and I thought it would make a good Naley story.**

**In my story news, I'm debating about putting a few of them on hold or discontinuing them. Those stories include: **_**Fences, Pickpocket From My Life, and To You I Will Always Return. **_**I think I keep putting too many things on my plate or I have a good idea but I can never fulfill my ideas. **

**Please review!**


	2. My Worst Nightmare

**I guessed that some of you might have been confused with the first chapter. Hopefully, this next chapter will clear up your confusion…or just confuse you more.**

**Thanks for the reviews on the first chapter. **

……………….

Haley contemplated on turning around. There was no way that anything could have happened at the party. She didn't have any alcohol and she would never sleep with just anybody. Another odd thing was that she had no memory how she got home last night. It wasn't just how she got home it was the entire night that was a blur. She sure as hell was certain that it had nothing to do with any guy.

She felt a callused hand move a strand of hair from her face. It was a gentle touch. The feeling didn't just worry her but it also made her whole body heat up.

With an exhaled breath, Haley sat up and turned her head to see who was next to her. _ NO. _

"Ahh!" She let out a loud gasp and jumped in surprise. She didn't know how close she was to the edge of the bed, so she ended up falling to the floor. There was just no way that it was _him. _She was in bed with Nathan. Why the hell was she in bed with Nathan? He was the last person she would ever be in bed with. Actually, she probably wouldn't sleep with him if he were the last person on earth. _What the hell happened last night? _

Nathan sat up on his side and peered over. "Haley, are you okay?"

She shook her head at the sound of his voice. It just didn't make any sense to her. If she did sleep with Nathan, then they wouldn't be at her house. Would they? Lucas would have given her a ride home. Lucas would never let Haley walk out of the house with this horn dog.

"What the hell are you doing in my bed?"

Nathan shakes his head and chuckles. "I always spend Thursday nights here, you know that. Are you sure that you're okay?"

_I do? What? _She gave him a scornful look. "What are you even talking about I would nev-"

"Haley, every Thursday night I sleep here. You know that my dad always drills pressure into my head before games. This way I don't have to see him in the morning before a game. It's been this way for months. " He explained to her giving her his own quizzical look.

_Months? _Haley really had no idea what was going on. The last thing she remembered was Nathan kissing her at Brooke's party last night. She knew nothing about his father, well, other than him being the mayor and being rich. There had to be something going on. Maybe he was just toying with her. That had to be it.

Nathan took off the covers and stood up. This caused Haley to stand up as well. He walked over to her and placed his hands on her waist and massage circles there.

_I knew it! He's tricking me. _Just like so many times last night, Haley pushed his hands away. "Do you not remember last night when I told you not to touch me?" she asked him annoyed.

"You're acting really weird. I think you might have hit your head on the floor." Nathan leaned in and kissed her forehead.

His lips were soft and warm on her forehead. Haley fought to keep her eyes from drifting shut. There was no way she would fall into Nathan Scott's charm. She moved herself away from his arms.

Haley looked up to him to see if he was still giving her an odd look. He was. Her mind was in a whirlwind. Why was he acting so caring? Last night he was trying to get her to sleep with him. Luckily, they both woke up with their clothes on.

Her eyes glanced over to the clock. It was almost time for her to catch the downtown bus to school. Haley never slept in. With a sigh, she thought of a quick way to get rid of him. She rubbed at her temples "My head is starting to hurt. Maybe you should just leave. I'm practically late for the bus anyway." _Please take a hint, please take a hint. _

He chuckled again. "My girl doesn't need to take the bus. When you're ready and acting like my girlfriend again, I'll be waiting for you downstairs."

As he left her room, a huge knot in her stomach formed at the horrific thought. _YOUR GIRLFRIEND?_

Haley walked over to her bed to lie back down. She pulled her covers over her body and placed her pillow over her face. "This is my worst nightmare," she groaned.

~*~

Now, she sat next to her…Nathan in his Mustang. Haley had no idea how Peyton and Lucas would react if the saw her come to school with Nathan. Haley head was still spinning from hearing Nathan say that she was his girlfriend. She tried to put pieces together from this morning: _"I always spend Thursday nights here, you know that.", "It's been this way for months.", "You're acting really weird." "My girl doesn't need to take the bus. When you're ready and acting like my girlfriend again, I'll be waiting for you."_

This wasn't real. It just couldn't be. She had to know what was going on.

"Can I ask you something?"

"What's going on, Hales? You're not yourself."

"What happened at Brooke's party last night? The last thing I remember is you forcing your tongue down my throat and trying to get me to sleep with you. I can't believe girls find that charming."

"First off, I've never forced myself onto you because I would never treat you like that. You're really confusing the hell out of me. Brooke didn't have a party last night." He took a long pause before speaking again, this time in an annoyed tone. "The party was probably part of your dream."

Haley was about to argue that it wasn't but they were at school. The sooner the car stopped, the sooner she would find Lucas to find out what was really going on. He would never lie to her.

Nathan parked the car and got out of it. He waited for Haley. He really hoped that she would get her act together.

Haley did the same. She walked away from him, without a word.

"Haley!" Nathan shouted at her. She didn't stop or turn around to look at him. He let out a sigh before catching up to her. "Where are you going?"

"Away from you. I don't get what you're trying to pull, but we aren't dating. Brooke's party wasn't a dream. From what I remember you've always been a complete jackass who uses his daddy's money to get girls to sleep with you. Now, I'm going to go find my friends that you've abandoned in your popularity and you're going to go back to your friends and brag about sleeping with me, which will never happen!" She rambled scornfully. "This has to be some sick dream."

She felt his hand wrap around her arm to roughly stop her. "I don't know what's going on with you. I'm not doing anything. You want to know what I remember? We've been dating for the past five months and I've never once pressured you to sleep with me because I know that you aren't ready. Now, you're two friends could care less if you ever gave them the light of day. So when you're done bitching about me being a jackass, come find me." He let go of her.

This morning was nothing she ever thought that she'd wake up to. Why weren't Lucas and Peyton her friends? She was about to find out whether she was going to like the outcome or not.

~*~

Brooke saw her cousin walk into the school without Haley. That was a new thing. She studied his face. He looked confused and pissed.

"Hey, you look like hell." She said as she leaned on his locker. "Where's Haley? Is she not feeling well?"

Nathan wasn't in the mood to talk about his off morning. His cousin would get it out of him anyway. He had no clue what was going on in his girlfriend's head. Why did she think that they weren't even going out? It was never a big deal when he spent the night before. She's never reacted this way to him before. There were so many questions on his plate. He knew that asking them would only make things worse between them.

"Okay, well it must not be that since you look a million miles away. Nathan, you can tell me what's going on. Then I can talk to Haley during cheer practice."

He sighed, "She's just not…you could say that she's…"

"Spit it out already, Scott!"

"She doesn't remember anything and she keeps talking about some party you had last night. She said that I tried to force her to have sex with me. Haley also thinks that she's friends with Lucas and Peyton."

Brooke gave him the same look he's been giving Haley all morning. "Are you sure that you're not the one going crazy? If I had a party, then I'm pretty sure I would remember if. Hung over or not, my parties are unforgettable."

"Yeah, I'm sure. Promise that you'll knock some sense back into my girlfriend alright?"

Brooke gave her cousin a quick hug. "I'll try, but if she doesn't think you're her boyfriend, imagine how she'll react when she finds out I'm her best friend."

~*~

"Thank God, some familiar faces." Haley said as she sat down next to Lucas and Peyton. Neither of them said a word to her. "I've had the worst morning ever. I woke up and Nathan was in bed next to me. I had no clue how they hell that happened. Then, this is the worst part he told me that I was…"

Peyton's staring eyes landed upon the talkative Haley. "What are you doing?"

"I'm, um, telling you guys about my disastrous day." Haley looked over to Lucas. "What happened to you last night? How could you just leave me with Nathan?"

Peyton started laughing. "Whoa, hold on." Peyton turned to Lucas as well. "You hung out with Haley last night? What ever happened to her just being another one of them?"

Haley didn't understand why her two best friends were acting this way. "Lucas and I went to Brooke's party last night. I'm guessing that you don't remember it either?"

This time it was Lucas's turn to laugh at Haley. "I would never step foot at one of Brooke's parties and I would never want to be seen there with you."

"Lucas, what are you talking about? We're best friends." Haley argued.

"Listen, Haley, why don't you leave us outcasts alone and go back to your jock ass of a boyfriend?" Peyton said rudely.

Haley groaned. She knew that she had to be in some twisted nightmare. All she hoped for was to go to bed tonight and wake up and have everything back to how she knew it was.

"Fine, but whatever happened to us, I'm sorry that it happened. " She said before walking to go sit at a table by herself.

On the other side of the quad, the hazel eyes turned to the blue. "Maybe now she'll realize that this isn't a dream."

"I hope so."

……………

After lunch, Brooke decided that it was time for her to talk to Haley. She didn't really believe when Nathan told her that Haley thought that this had to be a dream. No, this was her life. She was dating the popular guy, Brooke and Haley were best friends, and she was happy. She spotted Haley walking over to her Calculus class.

"And there's my best friend. I haven't seen you all day. Are you excited to cheer for Nathan tonight?"

Haley turned her head to see Brooke walking right beside her. They were best friends? That couldn't be right at all. She was outgoing and Haley only stuck to her two friends, who weren't too happy with her. "I'm guessing Nathan's making you talk to me? Look, I don't know what he told you but this isn't me."

"There's only one Haley James I know and she cares so much about my cousin. He cares about you, too. Now, hopefully, you can put your negative thoughts aside and make up with him at cheer practice today."

"I'm not a cheerleader, Brooke. I don't go to basketball games. I hang out and do things people like you and Nathan would classify as geeky with my friends…"

"Who don't even know you? Haley, this is who you are. This is who you've always been."

"But I…"

Brooke cut her off, "just be there." She sighed in disbelief.

Haley watched Brooke go. She sat down in the hallway. All day she's been holding in the feeling to cry. "I just want to go back."

~*~

"Did you talk to her?" Nathan asked Brooke. They were now in the gym for practice, both hoping that Haley might show up.

"Of course, I did. Don't tell me you've lost faith in your cousin." She joked. She noticed the serious look on his face. "She doesn't want to believe it. "

"So what do I do?"

"Just give her some time and she'll come around."

"What if she never does, Brooke? From her small explanation of me, I treat girls like objects and not people. She doesn't believe that I've been a good guy to her." He turned his head to sigh. "What did she say? Is she going to come to practice?"

"If she's curious, then I'll say yes. If she'd rather believe her logic, then I wish you all the luck. I've got to get to the squad."

"Kay, thanks Brooke." Nathan looked to the basket, hoping that curiosity would get the best of Haley.

Pacing by the gym doors was, in fact, Haley James. For such a bizarre day, too much has been going on too quickly. She wished that time would slow down. In the back of her mind, she feared that she would never wake up. It was too soon to tell.

She had to make another decision and it seemed that every one she made affected her the opposite way that she hoped. It was because everything was rushed. Her quick decisions based on what she thinks, compared to everyone else, was making her choices rational.

She thought back to the moment she woke up. Nathan was being so sweet and caring towards her. The only thing she tried to do was escape from that. She never once really listened to him. How could she? The only thing she's ever focused on was his playboy and rich ways. She knew that she couldn't just change her mind and just give him a chance. He had to earn it, especially if he really was her boyfriend. There had to be some reason why this version of Haley sees something in Nathan.

With a staggered breath she stepped foot into the gym. The place where all the jocks and cheerleaders were was supposed to be her place, too. This was the life she has always judged. Now, she was going to have to live it.

Haley looked around to see everyone staring at her. After a few seconds of having all the attention on her everyone, but one, went back to what they were doing. The one pair of eyes looking straight into hers were his.

He passed off the basketball to one of his players. Then he walked over and stopped in front of her. "Do you believe me yet?" He asked as his warm breath hit her face.

In the distant, Haley heard Brooke call her over to join the squad. With one last look to Nathan, she answered, "we'll just have to wait and see."

_**To Be Continued….**_

**Rushed? I'm going to try and slow things down from here. When I started to outline this I had all these ideas. The next chapter won't have so many things happening or quick scenes.**

**Other than it being all over the place, I'd love to know what you thought. Please leave a review!**


	3. From There to Here

**AN- It is quite obvious that I haven't been able to make things clear to you. In most of the reviews I have received I pretty much have almost everyone confused. To clear it up, the world where Haley and Brooke are best friends and Haley is Nathan's girlfriend is the world that is the dream. There is a purpose of to why Haley woke up a different person. I apologize for not making that clear in the last chapter. I hope that there is less confusion. **

……**.**

Nathan pulled his car into Haley's driveway. During practice his team kept asking him why he and Haley weren't talking. Nathan just told them that Haley was having a bad day. At least he was telling the truth. He watched as she grabbed her bag and set in on her lap. Then she turned to him as if she was going to listen to him speak.

"I'll come pick you up before the game." He told with a hint of disappointment. Today was going to affect his game tonight and the entire town was going to see that.

After he spoke, he leaned in to at least try and kiss her cheek but instead he ended up catching the air. He looked out his windshield as she walked through her front door. Pulling away sighing, Nathan sped off while wishing things would be looking up sooner.

Now inside, all Haley wanted to do was go to the safety of her room. After hurrying upstairs, she flopped down on her bed. There were so many things that she couldn't believe. There were so many wild things that people told her. The top of the list was hearing that she was Nathan's girlfriend. Why would she date somebody that was always sitting on his high horse? The event that made her disappointed was not being friends with Lucas and Peyton. They were the only two people she ever really talked too. Instead her best friend was Brooke Davis. The two were nothing alike. Brooke was beautiful and popular. Haley wasn't well known. Brooke was a social butterfly. Haley confined in only Lucas and Peyton. The only thing that Haley had in common with Brooke now was that she was a cheerleader. That wasn't the way things were going to work anymore. She wanted to figure out why Lucas and Peyton weren't her friends anymore. Something had to happen between them. There had to be a reason as to why she woke up as a different Haley.

She picked up her head and looked around her room to try and feel some sense of what she knew. Things were different. She hadn't noticed before because she was in such a shock from the morning's events. She glared at the cheerleading uniform that was hanging on the back of her door. She couldn't stand the sight of it so she looked to one of her walls that she prayed was blank. Instead most of it was covered in a collage of pictures. Haley stood up to look because maybe they would help her understand more. There were ones of her and Nathan smiling. She studied his smile. The only two expressions she's ever seen on the Scott's boy face was either his smirk or a look of annoyance. His smile was a sight to see. Haley's never seen him look happy. Then they were the others of her and him together. In those, they were attached at the lips. This time Haley wanted to see her face. She had never seen herself so happy. Her smile was wide. The only time she smiled like that was whenever Lucas or Peyton would make her laugh. It never seemed like anyone else could make her feel that good. Shaking her head, Haley looked for pictures that didn't involve Nathan. There were ones of her and Brooke making goofy faces to the camera, just like best friends do together. She never did things like that with Peyton because Peyton wasn't into things like that. There were ones of her and other girls from the squad. They appeared to be her friends as well.

"Unbelievable," she whispered to herself.

She went back to looking at her wall. The blonde's eyes catch one of her and Nathan. It looked like it was a summer night. She was wearing a Tree Hill High sweatshirt and had her cheer shorts on. Nathan was in khaki shorts and a navy blue polo shirt. The picture was taken from somebody else because she was in his arms, with her feet off the ground. Of course, they were kissing. Haley felt a small tingle in her chest. The two looked like they were in love.

~*~

He pulled his car into the garage. Even though it was his car, his father wanted it to stay inside whenever it wasn't in use. Nathan was nervous to come home. He would usually stay at Haley's house after practice until the game. It was to avoid hearing his father talk bout his own stats or how he disapproved of all the time he dedicated to Haley. Today, he decided to come home because he wanted to give Haley some space to figure out whatever was on her mind. Nathan felt that it was only fair to her that he would back off. However, he wished that he knew exactly what was going on with his girlfriend.

As he went inside, he notices that it is as empty as it always is. He hopes that his dad is either at the mayoral office or at his larger office in Charleston. His dad was the mayor of this small town. Those duties consisted of going to meetings and sitting in his office to sit through appointments that he hand with numerous people. Sometimes he even had things to work out. All in all, it was about trying to improve the town. Nathan was surprised that people wanted that person to be Dan Scott. His other job, in Charleston, is what made the money for the family. Nathan never paid attention when his father would talk about that job. The only thing he knew was it was doing very well.

"Well, either I'm dreaming or Haley's finally realized that it was in your best interest to focus on more important things, like your game tonight," Dan Scott said as he walked into the large kitchen. It was easy to tell where Nathan got his features.

Nathan let out a scoff. His dad didn't think that Haley was good enough to date him. What would his father know? Nathan's mom was smart enough to get a divorce. The only poor decision she made was leaving Nathan with him. "Haley's busy doing something with Brooke to get ready for the game. What are you doing home?"

"This game is an important so I decided to cut work early. Nothing exciting ever happens in this town and my assistant manager is capable enough to run things in Charleston." He cleared his throat. "Now, the Bulldogs shouldn't be too much trouble as long as you stayed focused."

Nathan rolled his eyes. He's heard this speech so many times. His father thinks that every single game is the most important one. His father needed a new hobby as far as Nathan was concerned.

"By the way, I scored a twenty two point average in my game against them."

"I can beat that." He muttered as he walked upstairs, blocking the sound of his dad saying that he wasn't to that level yet.

In his room, Nathan turned on his stereo to drown out his thoughts and to prepare himself for the game. He looked over to his dresser to look at a picture of him and Haley. He knew that in time Haley's mind would be back on track and they'll have a great weekend together, like they always did.

~*~

Haley sat on her front porch waiting for Nathan to pick her up. At first, se wanted to stay at home, but she thought that she would give tonight a try. Maybe if she went and tried out this dream life, that maybe she would wake up and truly be awake. Plus, there was probably no way that Peyton and Lucas would want to see her.

The car from earlier made a screeching stop onto her driveway. Nathan sat in his car and waited for her. The only thing he did was honk the horn.

Haley didn't need the horn because she could hear the bass from his stereo.

Nathan wasn't going to lie about how sexy Haley's legs looked in her cheer skirt. He chose to keep that thought unspoken. If contact between them wasn't allowed, then what good was a flirty comment?

Haley got in the car and gave him a look. She still couldn't help hating him. That feeling doesn't just disappear. The only thing she had to worry bout was playing the part in front of her peers. The picture of them was still on her mind. Those were people that she never thought could exist, but for some reason they did.

Nathan still didn't acknowledge her and the only sound came from the blaring radio. That was the entire ride to school.

After he parked, the couple got out of the car. Haley guessed that she and Nathan would meet up with their friends together. She was wrong. As she shut her door, Nathan was already greeting and joking with his teammates. This was her boyfriend?

"Good luck!" Haley shouted over to him.

He turned his head to look at her. Then he turned right back around.

Haley shrugged it off. She knew that he was still the arrogant guy that she knew. No dream could ever change that. She looked towards the school and sees Brooke there with other girls from the squad. Well, the pictures indicated that they were her friends too.

"Might as well make the best of this," Haley mumbled to herself as she made the choice to join them.

"Haley!" Brooke gave Haley a tight hug. "I didn't think you would show up after what happened today. I'm glad you're here, Buddy. Now, how about we get warmed up?" She said as she linked arms with Haley and they lead the others into the gym.

~*~

The gym filled up with people as Haley, Brooke, and the rest of the squad were stretching. A tan, skinny, red head took a seat next to Haley as they stretched their legs.

"So I noticed that you and Nathan weren't looking too good at school." She pointed over to Nathan, who was warming up as well.

There was something that his eyes possessed as he dunk the ball into the hoop. Something seemed a bit off, but Haley didn't know what it was. She didn't know Nathan too well to be able to figure it out. Then again, she knew him better than she thought. She turned back to Rachel.

"He's probably just nervous."

She let out a chuckle. "He's never nervous. Basketball is the only thing Nathan knows. Plus, you two were quite distant today." She responded smugly.

Haley rolled her eyes. This girl was annoying. She seemed to know Nathan's every move and feeling. Hopefully, she wasn't one of the many girls that he's had slept with.

She felt someone nudge her. It was Brooke. "Don't worry about Rachel. She may have her eyes set on Nathan, but you're the only girl on his mind."

The whistle blew to indicate the start of the game. Haley watched as Nathan and an opposing player walked to the center of the court. They shake hands and crouch below the ball, which the ref held above their heads. The ball was thrown into the air. Nathan was able to hit it to one of his players. The game seemed to be off to a good start.

She continued to watch the game. Haley was a bit bored, even though the game appeared to be exciting. That was because she had no idea what was going on. She wasn't one to follow the game. The thing she wasn't going to lie about was being amazed about the world that she was in. from where she was standing, it was impossible to believe that she didn't belong their. She was a cheerleader standing on the sidelines and cheering her boyfriend on. Isn't that cliché enough? Haley had always hated things like that and now she was living it. Hiding her disgust from it around others made her hate it more. As she lifted her eyes back to the court, she caught Nathan studying her face. Did he see her doubt? Did he see that she was ruining his picture perfect world?

~*~

The Raven had won their game. Haley couldn't believe how hard it was to get the ball from one end of the gym to the other. Then again, everything seemed simple to the wallflowers. To them it was just a form of entertainment.

She waited for him in the gym. It wasn't just because he was her ride home; it was also because he deserved to be congratulated for playing his heart out. She saw that the entire time he played. This sport meant something to him. Haley saw him walk out of the locker room and was about to go over by him when a tall figure beat her to him. That person's voice was also able to echo throughout the gym.

"I didn't think you would be able to win. You seemed awfully distracted tonight. Do you know how many times you let the other team either get the ball from you or how many times you let them score on you?" His voice boomed.

Haley cringed at the sound.

Nathan didn't answer. His jaw clenched as his father continued to pick out his flaws and blow them out of proportion.

"Three turnovers and two shots, Nathan! What scout would be impressed with those stats? I'll tell you, some community college! So get your head out of you ass for next week."

Haley quietly gasped. Did Nathan actually let his father talk to him like that? He was cocky enough to talk down to other people who did nothing to him.

Dan let out a frustrated sigh and turned away from his son. He marched out of the gym, but not with out sending Haley an angry glare. "Miss James,"

Haley let it pass. Nathan was now next to her and she didn't know what to say to him. "You did a great job tonight."

Nathan sent her his own annoyed look. That wasn't the first time he looked at her like that.

It wasn't that he was agitated with her. He was just pissed at his dad. Now, he just wanted to go somewhere and be alone. Nothing ever seemed to please his dad. This was the worst time for him and Haley to be distant because now he couldn't talk to her about it.

"I'll take yo…"

"Victory party!" Some of the players and cheerleaders shouted, as Nathan was about to tell Haley he would take her home.

Nathan now thought that he could use the party to get a drink and forget about the entire day. "You up for a party?"

Haley let out a nervous chuckle because of what happened at the last party she'd been to. _ Maybe this time I'll wake up in the right place and by myself. _She decided that her life couldn't get any worse and she should just go.

Nathan gives her a smirk. _That's my girl. _He offers his hand to her. it was up to her if she wanted to take it.

Haley looked from his hand to the group waiting. They were looking back at them. She sighed and let his hand wrap securely around hers.

~*~

She watched as he retrieved another drink. He's already had a few tonight. It was quite obvious that Nathan was trying to get himself extremely wasted. she didn't know if she should let that happen. She did rationalize to herself that he was only doing this so he wouldn't remember who he was going to sleep with. Wait, now she was the girl in his life. What was making him drink?

"He's doing that to himself because of you, you know?"

Haley turned to see Rachel standing behind her. She remembered that Brooke told her that Rachel was interested in Nathan.

"Nathan and I aren't breaking up. So why don't you stop imagining yourself with him?"

Rachel scoffs. "At least I'm thinking about him." She shouts as she walked away.

Haley looked back to the keg to see that Nathan was no longer there. _He's probably just looking for girls. Haley, you're not allowed to think that here. _

"Come on, Haley! Let's dance!" Brooke called over to her from a huge group of girls. "Haley, you know you want to! Get your sexy ass over here!"

At least she wouldn't be alone this time. Haley made her way over to her best friend. Brooke had a smile on her face and a drink in hand. Her body was swaying to the beat. She seemed to really be enjoying herself. Soon, enough Haley got out of her shell and danced along with Brooke.

A few songs later, Haley stopped dancing. This time Nathan didn't grab her waist from behind. This time there was no Nathan. Why was she acting so worried? She turned to her boyfriend's cousin. "I'm going to try to find Nathan. I haven't seen him since we got here." She had to shout over the music.

As Haley walked back through the crowd, the brunette's smile turned into a smirk of her own. Her cousin and his girlfriend were going to be just fine.

The first place that Haley chose to search was the kitchen because that was where all the alcohol was. He didn't seem to be there and he wasn't in the previous room where she was. That only left some random empty bedroom and the backyard. Haley obviously wasn't going to be searching in any rooms, so she chose the back yard.

In the huge yard, a bonfire seemed to illuminate the dark sky. As she walked outside, she threw on her cheer squad hoodie. The loud music could be heard perfectly clear outdoors. There were empty cups and bottles all over the ground and people were in chairs around the fire. Nathan wasn't one of those people. She didn't even know why she was looking for him.

As she was about to give up, she saw the fire's glow outline a silhouette. She hoped that it was Nathan.

"Hey," a deep voice responded to her nearing footsteps. It was him.

She sat down next to him in the grass. Haley couldn't really see his face because they were far from the fire. She could smell a small dose of liquor on his breath.

"It's been a crazy day. I never thought that I'd wake up feeling so lost, so out of place." he explained to her while staring ahead.

Haley could agree with that completely. She would never have guessed that he felt the same way.

"My dad didn't make the day any better. I don't know how many more times I can hear him tell me the same things. 'Oh, you're not going to ever be as good as me or Haley's just some girl that you'll forget about one you make it to the college league.'"

Haley raised her eyebrow. His father didn't approve of them being together? Haley never knew that Nathan had to live with these put downs because he was able to hide that very well.

"You've been awfully quiet tonight," he told her softly.

Haley didn't say anything as she rested her head on her shoulder. She shifted her weight on her arms as she leaned backwards. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a trembling hand move some strands of hair from her face. The pain that she felt in her chest from earlier resurfaced.

"Haley, did I do something wrong? I didn't mean what I said earlier." He said with a bit of vulnerability.

She shook her head, "No, none of this is your fault, Nathan." She wasn't just saying this about this morning. It was pretty much about what she heard his father tell him.

He chuckled. "She speaks."

Haley smiled back. "It's okay, I just want to forget today." She sighed and stared ahead as well.

~*~

She was dropped off at home after the party. The entire day was something she never would have expected to wake up to. Haley went upstairs and hurried to get ready for a comfortable sleep. After changing out of her clothes and into her sweats, she crawled under the covers. As her eyes drifted shut, she couldn't help but wonder who she would wake up as the next morning.

………..

**I hope that this chapter makes up for the last one. Please review!**


	4. A Troubled Mind

_There comes a certain time when we should contemplate  
The end of everything familiar as we know it   
We will not follow the same path tomorrow as yesterday_

"A Troubled Mind"- Goot

~*~

_All right, what's it going to be like? _She let her eyes flutter open. Her brown eyes met with the plain ceiling that towered over her. It wasn't any different than the one she always woke up to. Now came the challenging part, turning to see which lifestyle she would have to portray. She pep talked to herself to sit up and look at the wall furthest from her. It was the one that she knew with a desk and computer with her schoolwork scrambled everywhere on it. Yesterday it appeared as the collage of the life she didn't want to be a part of.

It wasn't where she wanted to be.

Last night's party proved nothing to her. Teenagers liked to have underage parties. It isn't that hard to figure out that people her age didn't care about consequences. The world was all take. The world was also all give. There was no balance. Sure, she had seen a small bit of vulnerability in Nathan Scott. That one thing didn't automatically change how Haley thought of him. She wasn't convinced and she really didn't want to fall under the trickery of Nathan. Maybe she just didn't want to be convinced. After seeing the way he's acted for so long, killed any chance of having a new perception of him. That seemed harsh. It was. It was the harsh truth. Then Haley found a part of her wondering about Nathan's father. The way he talked down to his own son baffled her.

Her parents were nothing like that. Whenever Haley wasn't exceeding, they would talk to her about just trying to be better the next time or tell her that she gave her honest effort. It would never be her fault. The outcome just wasn't what they had hoped. Haley loved that her parents were supportive of her. There was never a time in her life that her parents weren't there for her. She could talk to them about anything. Sometimes they would throw in an inappropriate, but it was only to make Haley laugh or it was an attempt for them to be on the same level with their seventeen-year-old daughter.

Now, her parents, Jimmy and Lydia James were exploring the world. At first, Haley was devastated that they were leaving her here so that they could travel in an RV. Her mother and father let her know that she was grown up enough to face the world on her own. Haley wasn't so sure.

One thing for sure was that they weren't here to talk her though this mess.

When she got home last night, Haley wanted to open the door and have her dad turn on the light and ask her why she was out so late. Then they would have a long talk about her being more responsible and telling her that she can't live her life like it was party central. She would apologize then go to bed. That wasn't the case. The door opened to the dark and empty house. Haley had to turn the light on herself.

The next question on her plate was what she was going to do with her day. She wouldn't be able to hide from Nathan or Brooke at school. After the party, Haley could easily guess that both Nathan and Brooke weren't prepared to do anything too drastic. There was the factor of Haley's weekend logic. People like Nathan and Brooke didn't do the same things that she enjoyed. Her guess was that they partied all weekend. She wasn't going to expect a call from either of them until later hours. Also, she wouldn't be able to had out with her two best friends. They were the other people she really wished were here with her right now. Her usual weekend consisted of going to the pier and the river court with Lucas and Peyton. At the pier, the threesome would take a walk and check out the stops along the way. Sometimes there were outside stores, where they would try on ridiculous looking things. They didn't care how they looked. It was all about how much laughter they could produce. Later in the day, they would head down to an old asphalt basketball court. It was Lucas's favorite place to be. Haley and Peyton would start out just watching Lucas shoot baskets. Then they would embarrass themselves when they tried to play two-on-one with Lucas. Today wasn't going to be one of those days.

As Haley got out of her bed she could hear something buzz. She looked over to her small desk and saw her cell phone nearing the edge. She walked over to see that she got a text message from "Tigger". She raised her brow in confusion.

_Picking u up in 5. B ready! _

It looked like she had plans after all.

She had no idea what was going to be in store for her in the next five minutes or who Tigger was. Her life couldn't get anymore exciting that yesterday.

She walked over to her closet to see if she still owned the same clothes. She opened the double doors to see that every aspect of her life had indeed changed. There wasn't one item of clothing that she recognized. Instead of her simple outlet store look, Haley saw clothing from more expensive type stores. There was no one way this was real. She wasn't allowed to be her true self here. There was no way that could get used to any of this. It was all too much. Haley was a simple person. This was all making her feel uncomfortable.

Knowing that she hardly had any time, she just grabbed something and decided to just go with it.

What seemed like only seconds later, Haley was ready to go. Now all she had to do was wait. At least it wasn't for too long.

After hearing a horn, Haley went over to the window to see who it was. The car was unfamiliar. She squinted her eyes to try and guess who the driver of the vehicle was. It was Brooke. Well, Haley thought she might as well play the part of the cheery brunette's best friend. She headed downstairs to go meet the person who seemed to have her Saturday in the palm of her hand.

~*~

It was almost like sleep was his way for him to not have to deal with anything. The only part he hated was the groggily feeling her felt when he woke up. Yesterday was an exception because he woke up to his beautiful girlfriend.

To Nathan, that's how Haley always looked. It was true, the fact he had only dated girls due to their appearance and eagerness to sleep with him. The disgusting part of that now was sometimes when he looked at Haley, he could see that she had doubt. One of his fears was that doubt being him. Things have taken an ugly turn for them. Nathan met Haley through Brooke. Brooke always joked that she wouldn't be offended to hooking him up with Haley. Nathan just didn't see her that way. Brooke thought that they would be great together and she kept bugging him about asking her out. When he first decided to ask Haley to be his girlfriend, Nathan didn't know how to act with her. A relationship wasn't something the teen looked for. His status got him girls coming to him. Haley was different. That difference intrigued him. Girls never did that to him. He enjoyed having her as his company. Girls used to be only bed company. Haley was easy to talk to and she was interested in him. The part that really won him over was that she didn't care if his dad made a ton of money or that he was the popular jock. He didn't care if she was in the same social group that he was in. It wasn't about what Brooke had told him anymore. He couldn't put his finger on it yet, but maybe he had figured out what love was.

People would call him the luckiest guy on the planet because his father was rich, he was the top high school basketball player in the state and he had a loyal girlfriend. They only think that he's lucky. He played the part for them. He had to seem like he was always in a good mood. There would be some days when he was truly happy.

Today wasn't one of those days.

"Nathan, get up!" A large fist pounded on his door.

He groaned. His dad took the weekend off after Nathan's performance last night. He had no idea what his dad would have to complain about. They won the game. It wasn't good enough.

"Well, you could have slept later if you didn't go off and celebrate your weak victory. Trust me, what I saw from you last night isn't something to be celebrating. Meet me downstairs."

Nathan wished that he stayed at a friends' house or even Haley's after the party. Then he could have escaped a morning of jogging with his dad following him with his SUV.

Nathan got up slowly and rubbed at his eyes. It was better to just agree with his father. Then he could spend the rest of his day trying to forget the morning,

After throwing on an old jersey and shorts, Nathan walked down the steps and into the kitchen. He saw his father sting at the table reading the paper.

"At least your name made it into the paper." He said as he turned the page. "Now, hurry up and eat. You've got eight miles to burn it off."

"Eight miles?" he scoffed.

"Fine, you'll go nine. I'm glad to see you pushing yourself."

He wasn't pushing himself. He was trying to save himself.

"Don't you think that's a bit intense?"

Dan set his paper down and stood up from his chair. "You're an athlete. You have the Scott genes in you. You have ten minutes to get outside."

~*~

"I was afraid that you forgot that we planned to go shopping today. I mean you forgot one of the most important people in you life." She muttered the last part to herself.

"Is there any reason why you brought me here?" Honestly, this was the last place Haley wanted to be.

"Let's see because we love the mall." Brooke sighed. "I thought it would take your mind off of whatever's been bothering you. All day, you seemed like a different person." Brooke stopped walking. "Is something wrong? If there is, then you know that you can always come to me."

Haley sent her a small smile and nod. "I was just having an off day. You and Nathan have nothing to worry about."

"Speaking of Nathan," Brooke started as she began walking again, "what happened with you two last night? Did you ever find him?"

"Yeah, he was out in the back." _Nothing happened. _She shrugged.

"That's good. We both know how he can be after be talked down by Dan. Luckily, he has you."

Haley still didn't respond because she really didn't know how Nathan was with his father. There was only a glimpse of what it could be last night. It was definitely something that was growing on her mind. Maybe she could get a better idea about it from Brooke.

"He talked to me. Nathan just told me that he dad thinks he'll forget about me once college starts and that he will never be up to his dad's level."

Brooke wanted to continue talking to Haley since she thought they were getting somewhere. The only thing that was stopping her was the Juicy store.

"How about we talk about your boy woes after we have some fun shopping?" Brooke suggested.

Haley nodded. Brooke did bring her here to forget, even though it was hard to. Haley looked into the store.

She felt Brooke link her arm through hers. "What do you say Buddy? I think I can spot an outfit my cousin would love to see on you," she winked.

Haley shook as she felt a tingle in her spine. She guessed it was just from hearing Brooke speak of her and Nathan that way. She had no clue how long she was going to be stuck here, but getting used to Nathan being her boyfriend was going to be tough.

Before Haley could respond, Brooke managed to drag her into the store. This was not like how shopping was with Lucas and Peyton. They wouldn't be seen in a store like this. Peyton was more of a punk type of girl and Lucas preferred bookstores.

"Okay, let's see," Brooke said to herself as she rummaged through some shirts.

Haley's eyes scanned around. There were some things that caught her eye. The only thing about clothes was that she had to be comfortable. To her, there was nothing more comfortable than sweats.

"Hales, it's going to be summer in two months and you're not going to look at some skirts? You have the perfect legs for one." Brooke said as she walked back to Haley with a few pairs of jean shorts and some t-shirts.

She told herself to go along with it. Haley reminded herself that in most of her pictures, she wasn't walking around wearing a size to large sweatshirt. Well, only if it was Nathan's.

"I mean they'd be cute on you, don't get me wrong. Here," she dug through her small pile, "go and try these one. Hopefully we're both still the same size."

Haley grabbed the pair of shorts from Brooke. As she walked into the dressing room, she couldn't believe how small they were. She couldn't believe she was actually going to try them on. This really wasn't what she had in mind for the day.

As she began pulling them on, she didn't think she was going to be able to get them on. It surprised her how snug they fit on her body. Her eyes landed on the mirror. Brooke was right; her legs did go really well with the shorts.

"Come out, I want to see." Brooke called.

She walked out and heard Brooke whistle. "You look hot. I knew you were going to be. You're buying those."

Haley had forgotten about money. Did she have enough? This was embarrassing. She looked at the price tag. "Who pays forty dollars for shorts?"

"We do. I'll make you a deal; I'll buy them for you. All you have to do in return is let me borrow them a few times."

"Brooke, you don't have to." Haley told her. She wasn't going to make Brooke spend all that money on her. It didn't matter if they were best friends or not.

"It's fine Haley. Let's put it this way, Uncle Dan is taking care of us today." Brooke pulled out a credit card.

Haley sighed, "Fine, if you're sure you want to."

"Stop worrying so much. Nathan's going to love them."

_Oh, he's not seeing me in these. _"I'm going to go change back." Haley smiled as she went back into the fitting room.

After paying, the girls decided to sit down and talk some more. Haley never would have guessed how nice Brooke Davis really was.

"Prom's coming up soon. Has Nathan asked you yet?"

"No," _I have no clue. _

"He is usually last minute about these kinds of things. Don't worry, I'll get it out of him eventually."

"Has anybody asked you?" Haley knew that Lucas had always wanted to ask Brooke to a dance, but he was always beaten to the chance.

"I got a few offers, but none of them are what I want. Plus, Nathan doesn't seem fond of any of the guys who've asked."

"Why don't you just ask the guy you want to go with?" Brooke let out a small laugh.

"It's way more romantic if the guy does it, Hales. I don't want to be the one shot down after hoping that they would say yes. Remember when I talked you into asking Nathan to homecoming last year?

_No. _

"You were a nervous wreck. He's your boyfriend, who else would he say yes to?"

This time Haley let out a laugh. She was picturing herself trying to ask Nathan and how he reacted to his girlfriend being nervous about it.

"I guess you're right."

"You've just figured that out?" She joked.

"You're going to find someone, Brooke, someone who's going care about you and wants to make you happy all the time." _Lucas. _

"Luckily for you, your search is over."

Haley gave Brooke a hug. After spending time with her, Haley couldn't picture Brooke to ever be afraid of a guy rejecting her. Brooke had nothing to be concerned about. She was a beautiful girl. Haley knew that Lucas thought so too, well, the Lucas she knew.

~*~

He had to stop again. He knew that he wasn't going to be able to make it to the end. His water supply was running low. His chest was starting to hurt. He wouldn't be surprised if he'd lose his breakfast. Whenever he did run, he just pretended that he was running away from his father.

The large black SUV stopped beside him and the horn rang loudly. "Come on Nate, you only have two more miles left. Pick up the pace. If you stop one more time, we'll just up the distance for tomorrow."

Nathan ignored his father. All he wanted to do was be done with this so he couldn't feel this way anymore. He prayed that his dad would just drive off.

The horn sounded again. "Nathan!"

His sweaty face lifted up so he could give his father a glare. "Give me a minute." Nathan began taking deep breaths. When he looked up again, the black car was gone.

That was typical Dan Scott. He always told Nathan that giving up was a sign of weakness. His father had just given up on him, again. There was one thing that Dan Scott was right about; Nathan was never going to be like him.

He didn't think of this as giving up. Once pain started up in his chest, he knew that he should take it easy.

Even with all the bullshit he was dealing with he still thought about Haley. He pulled out his phone to call her. There was no answer. It didn't go straight to voicemail, which meant that she was either busy doing something or with his cousin. At least, he was able to hear her voice.

"Hey, it's me. I was just wondering what you were up to. Call me later."

Right now, Nathan Scott sat alone on the curb. All he wanted was to do was see Haley.

Last night, he was relieved that sat by him until they decided to leave. They only exchanged a few words, but it was the company that he wanted from her. He didn't need her for a good time in the sack. Part of their relationship was communication. Sure, it's been lacking but it wasn't always this way. There used to be no awkward silence between them. The only silence he's ever had was when they would lay in bed all day together. He was always worried about annoying Haley by dropping all his issues with his father on her. Haley thought that it was the opposite. She had really helped him out in the past few months by just listening to him.

It was confusing now.

_I don't know where I'm going_

_I don't know where I was_

_I just know that I need you wherever I end up_

_and if I lose my head you'll help me see where I should go_

~*~

After a few other stores, the girls decided to go grab a bite to eat at the food court. The day was turning out much better than Haley thought it would be. Hanging out with Brooke Davis was a great way to spend a day. As the morning turned to the afternoon, Haley was becoming really comfortable with her.

On their way to lunch, Haley spotted Peyton and Lucas in a record store. This was her chance to try and talk to them.

"Hey, Brooke, I'll meet you there. I just want to check something out really quick."

The brunette turned to her. "Are you sure you don't want me to go with you or wait outside the store?"

Haley shook her head. "I'll be fine. I'll meet you there okay?"

"Sure thing Haley J."

Haley took a deep breath due to her previous encounter with the pair. She walked inside the store. Now, this was the type of store that Haley liked. They were looking through old rock records. It was something they all had in common.

Peyton made eye contact with her and looked away. She muttered something to Lucas, which caused him to look at Haley too.

"Hey," Haley said shyly when she walked over to them. She was actually more nervous around them than she was with Nathan.

"Never thought I would see the day Haley James would go to the mall and stroll in to a music store." Peyton said as she continued to look through the records.

"I like stores like this and you know it." Haley found herself biting back.

"Well excuse me."

Haley cleared her throat. She knew that Peyton was a hardheaded girl. "Listen, I just came over to ask why were aren't friends. I just want to know what I did wrong."

"If you don't remember, then I guess you're even more lost than I thought you were. Come on, Luke." Peyton brushed past Haley and headed for the exit.

Haley held back her tears. "Lucas…I…"

"You just weren't who we thought you were. It's plain and simple. It's too late, Haley. Just stop trying to fix what's there."

Haley let out a sigh. "Fine, you know what? At least I still care like there was something." Haley walked out of the record store quickly so neither of them would see a few tears flow from her eyes.

They wouldn't even explain things to her. That's all she wanted. Instead, she was just told that she was a different person. Why? What made her different?

She turned the corner to get to the food court. She saw Brooke sitting with all the bags. Before she even made it to the table, Brooke stood up with a concerned look on her face.

Brooke didn't care about her bags as she made her way over to Haley. There was no way that she wanted to look at something in a store. Brooke looked around and saw the pair of blondes walking the same direction Haley came from.

"Hales, it's going to be okay," Brooke said as she wrapped her arms around her best friend. "They don't know you."

Haley wrapped her arms around Brooke. "I just don't know what I did." Haley pulled away from her. "Do you know?"

Brooke looked away from her friend. She was hurt enough. She wiped a tear from Haley's face. "I don't know because I don't know anything about them. Maybe you did nothing and it's all in your head."

Haley shook her head. "No, Lucas said that I'm not who they thought I was."

"All you can be is Haley James, Sweetie."

~*~

Brooke dropped off Haley after they ate lunch. The day started to be going downwards. Brooke thought that she finally was able to get Haley out of her funk. It was all going well, until Haley had run into Peyton and Lucas. She really wished that Haley wasn't so focused on them and not her cousin, who was hurting too.

~*~

Haley looked at her cell phone. She had one missed call and a new voicemail. Maybe it was Brooke calling just to make sure that she was okay, again. She decided to listen, even if she had heard it all before.

She was a bit surprised to hear that it was Nathan. They haven't talked since last night and he only tried to call her once. His message was short. She really didn't feel like talking, but she really hated feeling alone.

"Hey, I just got back from shopping with Brooke." She said when he heard him answer.

"_I thought you might me doing that. Are you okay? You sound quite." He asked her._

"It's just another one of those crazy days. What did you do?" Haley thought that his day was probably better than how hers ended. She felt bad that she acted like that in front of Brooke.

"_It was horrible, just like everyday with Dan is." He sighed. Did she really need to hear this right now?_

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"_I don't want you to be. What are doing tonight? Did you already make plans with Brooke or the other girls from the squad?" _

"No, I think I just want to stay in for tonight. No parties." She heard him chuckle. "What?"

"_I've never heard you turn down a party before. How about I come over later? I'm not in the mood to party and I haven't seen you all day."_

She didn't want to be alone with Nathan Scott. She walked over to the wall and peeled off the picture that scared her most.

"Sure, I'll see you later tonight."

……**..**

**Thanks for the reviews for the past chapters. The next chapter will continue from this one and include more Naley.**

**Please review!**


	5. Playing God

**It's been a while since I last updated any of my stories. This will be a quick one for a while because I'm working on the chapter (for They Call Love a Game: Hott for Scott) that I promised people I would have posted a year ago. I'm really going to post it this time. So look out for it in the future!**

**Also, for all my stories, the dividers between scenes have disappeared. I apologize if it happens for this chapter and to anyone who reads my other stories.**

**This chapter has two different sides of Naley. The Naley Nathan remembers and the one Haley doesn't want to be a part of. I outlined this in April. It didn't turn out they way I wanted it to because I wasn't in the same mindset. **

**Enjoy!**

_It's just my humble opinion_

_But it's one that I believe in_

_You don't deserve a point of view_

_If the only thing you see is you_

"Playing God" - Paramore

As she paced, back and forth, Haley tried to figure out why she had said yes. Something must be going on in her mind that she wasn't sure of. There was no way she would ever agree to spend anytime with the cocky raven-haired boy. Maybe it was the way he spoke to her on the phone. She could sense a small hint of vulnerability again, just like at the party. At first, she had to admit; Haley thought he was pretending to be vulnerable. It could have been an act for him to get comfort from girls. She was starting to think that maybe she was wrong.

_But, when has Nathan Scott ever proven me wrong?_

There she went again, being her judgmental self. It was just too easy. Haley has had this view of Nathan ever since her freshman year of high school. Seeing the way he acted everyday took its toll and now he was stuck. He was stuck as the carefree jock. There was just no escape from it. Haley didn't even know if she was ever going to be sorry.

Would he ever figure this out about her? His so-called girlfriend thought he was a snake when it came to other people's feelings. The boy could swallow his own feelings whole and hide them from society. That was just another one of Nathan's talents.

A shine of light brought Haley out of her flustered thoughts. It was going to be him. She knew it because of how desperate he sounded on the phone. She could tell that he _needed_ to see her.

A quick slam of the car door and a knock soon followed.

His appearance didn't surprise her. Even if he sounded like he was about to breakdown, Nathan Scott was still able to look the part of a typical arrogant boy. His hair was even styled with the same spiky look it always had. His wardrobe consisted of some NBA team sweatshirt with some basketball shorts. It concluded with his expensive basketball sneakers, how much was this boy in love with basketball? Why did Haley fall for him?

"Hey," she greeted him quietly. She decided to move out of the way to let him in.

He sent her a small smile before brushing past her. "I wasn't interrupting anything was I?"

She shook her. _Why are you here? _"So, um." There was no reason for her to be nervous around him. Well, this version of her. "What did you do today?"

He sighed loudly before heading over to the couch. He sat down and then looked over to Haley. Did she really want to hear about another day of Dan being, well, Dan? Maybe he would feel a little better if he just heard about her day. Hopefully she was more of herself than she had been. Nathan waited for Haley to sit down next to him, but she didn't.

Haley looked at the distraught boy sitting on her couch. She noticed the look he was giving her. Sure, she could sit down and comfort him but the thing on her judgmental mind was the type of comfort Nathan Scott was really looking for. From what she heard around school Nathan Scott only needed sexual healing. There was no way that she was going to give him that. Being his girlfriend or not, that wasn't a commitment she was ready for. She declined his invitation.

"I'd rather hear about what you did today. Did you have fun with Brooke?"

"Yeah," she shook her head, "I mean it was shopping." She muttered. Haley didn't really know how else to explain it. Boys weren't really interested in shopping tales.

Nathan noticed her being awfully distant. He rubbed at his neck as agitation began to slightly stir inside. She was making this difficult. He didn't want to start asking her millions of question to get her to open up to him. The thing about Haley that Nathan liked was that she was an open person. Whatever bothered her, she would tell him. It didn't seem to matter to her how awful her problems were. She could talk to him about it and he would try to make her pain go away.

…_._

_He found her sitting by the river that ran by the concrete court. She looked so innocent with her knees held up to her chest. A few minutes ago he got a call from Brooke telling him that Haley found out her parents were leaving. Brooke said that she was quite upset about it. The worst part was Haley deepest fear was being alone._

_He sat next to her in the grass and looked ahead across the river. After a few minutes of silence, he looked over to her. His girlfriend's soft facial features were now broken. Her eyes were red and a bit puffy. Her tears stained trails down her smooth cheeks. Even as she sat there with her world crumbling, Nathan couldn't deny how beautiful she still looked. He wanted to caress her cheeks to let her know that he was there for her, but he didn't know if she wanted contact with him. _

"_Brooke call you down here?" she asked as her eyes stayed glued to the water. _

"_Yeah," he responded with a crack in his voice. "Do you want to talk about it? Or we could sit in the silence."_

_She brought her sleeve up to wipe at her eye. "I don't get it. I don't understand why they're leaving me. I mean if they waited until next year then I could have gone with them." More tears quickly started streaming down her face._

_As his girlfriend spoke, he moved closer to her. He was now right next to her. Nathan pulled her to his chest and kissed the top of her head. "They want what's best for you. If they took you with them, then you wouldn't go off to college and see the world for yourself. I know this isn't what you want to hear, but you have your own opportunities." _

_Nathan felt her tears through his shirt as he wished his father were that considerate about leaving him on his own. _

_She sighed. Partly because he was probably right and she just wished that he wasn't._

_She picked her head up to look at him. "I'm not ready for them to go. Who's' going to be there for me? I'm going to be in my house by myself. I won't be able to talk to my mom or my dad about any of my problems."_

"_You can talk to me." Nathan shifted so that his weight was on his elbows as he lay on the grass._

_Haley chuckled and shifted as well so that she was lying on his chest. "What about when I want to complain about you?"_

_He smirked. "I'm sure Brooke wouldn't mind hearing about that." Nathan waited for her to let out another short laugh. Instead she remained silent._

"_It's not just that. Since I'm the youngest, I always had to see my brothers and sisters leave. I just…I guess I wasn't expecting to have to watch my parents leave too."_

_This time Nathan didn't speak. He knew that Haley came from a larger family. He'd always hear stories involving her sisters and brothers. Her life was much different than his. He didn't have any siblings and his parents weren't in love or even together. His mom was emotionally damaged and one day she was just gone. His father was controlling enough, but his mom's absence brought control to a new level. He wished that he had a family life like Haley's. He'd rather have embarrassing parents than the dysfunctional ones he was blessed with._

"_You didn't have to come down here and listen to me complain, " she said as she snuggled into his chest further. "I'm going to miss them so much."_

"_I know you will, baby. You still have me," he answered while playing with a few strands of her hair. _

_It was more of him being lucky that he had her. It was selfish to be thinking of how her leaving would affect him if she left. She was upset and needed him right now. Sure, he was trying to console her, but he was still thinking of himself. _

…

"What about you? I mean you sounded different on the phone." Haley gained the courage to sit next to him. Sure she hated the guy, but hearing his problems made him seem like a sensitive guy. That was something nobody ever saw in him. It was intriguing. It didn't make her happy that the rich boy was having problems. She wasn't that heartless, was she?

_Now she cares? _If she could hide her thoughts from him, then he could do the same. "Oh, it wasn't that important. I was kind of bummed that we weren't going to that party." It was partly true. The party could have helped them both escape their troubles, but only for a few hours.

The party would have Haley play pretend. She wasn't in the mood for it. She never was going to be. She was kind of in the mod to hear about how great they were together. Yeah, she planned on being alone tonight, but that picture of them began tugging at her mind.

This was one awkward night and it wasn't even over yet.

…..

The two blonds walked along the pier. The female held a cup of coffee to warm her hands as the other listened to her complain about what occurred earlier.

"I mean can you believe that she wants to try and make amends with us?" Peyton let out a sarcastic laugh.

Lucas just rolled his eyes. Peyton needed to grow up. He close to telling her that she was being immature about going on about Haley. The way Lucas looked at it was Haley made a decision and now she just wanted to try and fix things. There isn't anything wrong with that. Now, Lucas would seem like a hypocrite too because he didn't seem interested in Haley's apology.

He did miss his best friend. They used to do everything together, just the three of them. The greatest part was that it was just dumb stuff, but they had a great time. Haley didn't care if she was making a fool of herself. She had that careless spirit, but she still knew her boundaries.

There was one she broke and it changed her. It changed all of them. Haley got a boyfriend and it wasn't just any guy. It was Nathan Scott. This shocked Peyton and Lucas. Haley never seemed interested in guys. Finding out it was Nathan was even a bigger shock.

Slowly, Haley spent less time with the blond duo. Whenever she promised that she would make it up to them, she would tell them that Nathan made reservations and other excuses. That wasn't even the thing that turned the friends into strangers.

"Lucas? You've been silent tonight. I'm not one to believe that you have nothing to say." Peyton said, bringing Lucas out of his thoughts.

"Sorry, Peyton. Could we just talk about something other than how much a certain someone annoys you?"

Peyton sighed. "Well, we could talk about a certain someone who had you in awe at the mall today." She suggested jokingly.

"I think I'll pass. She has no reason to be ripped apart be Peyton Sawyer's hatred."

"I don't hate her. I just don't like her."

"You don't know her."

"And you do?"

_I wish I did._

…..

This isn't how Nathan pictured his night. Silence and avoided eye contact was sure better than a party. There was a part of him that regretted calling Haley. His bad day was just getting worse. It wasn't just going to be today. He had a feeling that whatever was up with his girl wasn't going to just blow over. He closed his eyes to try and escape this torture.

_His eyes scanned the large house. He was actually surprised about how many people he was able to fit in his house. He only recognized a few of his knucklehead friends here and there. The rest were probably just walk ins. Those weren't the people he was looking for. _

_There she was. Her long honey hair was seen with his brunette cousin. Everyone knew that pair was ready to have a good time. There wasn't a party that the two spent apart. It didn't stop Nathan from keeping his tabs on them. They were his girls to protect._

_He moved through the people to make his way towards them. _

_Brooke spotted her cousin and sent him her mischievous smile. "Dan's going to kill you for this."_

"_Don't think I know that?" He smirked back to her. "Who's on your radar tonight, Brooklyn?"_

"_First off, don't call me that," she added with a firm push to his shoulder, "second, I'm teaching your girlfriend how to make the boys line up for her."_

"_Really?" He pulled the blond to his side. He leaned down and covered her mouth with his. His tongue explored her mouth with much satisfaction._

_Brooke rolled her eyes at him. She has never seen him so protective of another girl, other than herself. It was a fun game to her to joke with him about it._

"_Yeah," Brooke intervened. _

_Nathan groaned as he felt his girlfriend slip away from him. ""I think Haley needs to teach you patience."_

"_I've tried." Haley cut in. "Don't worry about me. I'm just Brooke's arm candy." The blond joked._

"_Speaking of," Brooke said as she hooked her arm with Haley's, "there's a brunette over there giving us the eye, Hales. We might see you later, Nate." Brooke sent him a wink. She picked up a drink as she and Haley made their way further into the party. _

_Nathan chuckled at his cousin's antics. He folded his arms across his chest as he leaned onto the nearby wall, his eyes ever leaving the two girls._

…_._

_Nathan found her where he knew she would be. She sat alone on the couch, while everyone around her was in their own little worlds. _

"_Brooke upstairs with somebody?" _

"_Don't worry, she's pretty wasted. I don't think the guy will be interested in sex, no matter how wasted he is, after Brooke shows him her lunch," she said, sipping her own drink._

"_Did you have fun with that guy?" he asked, not hiding his jealousy._

"_It's a party, of course I had fun. I wished you were the guy that I spent most of my time with."_

"_Sorry, baby," He slid down next to her on the couch. "You seemed to be having a blast without me." he gave her a knowing look._

"_I guess I'll just have to make it up to you," she giggled._

_He rose his brow, "Oh yeah?" he looked around. It seemed like the party was coming to end. This was the perfect time for him and Haley to be alone._

_She nodded and placed her drink on the small table. She stood up slowly and grabbed for his hand. _

_As the couple made their way up the stairs, hot feverish kisses were exchanged. _

_Once the door closed behind them, Nathan felt himself being dragged over to his bed. If this were any other girl, he wouldn't be turned on like he was at this moment. Now, he towered over Haley. He looked down into her dark eyes._

"_Nathan, are you okay?" She asked as she played with his button up shirt. She was a bit confused because Nathan would usually go for it whenever he had a chance to. Why didn't he want her?_

_His hand traveled down to caress her cheek. "We don't have to this."_

_He instantly regretted saying anything as he watched her features sadden. "Hey, it's not like that. Okay, it's not," He continued stroking her cheek. "This isn't the way it should be. You shouldn't be drunk. It shouldn't be right after a long night of reckless partying."_

"_It's never stopped you before." Her voice cut through the dark softly. _

_He rolled off her and lay next to her. "I don't want you to regret any of this."_

"_I won-"_

"_If we do it this way, you will. I will. Trust me, you don't want this. At least not right now."_

_He knew her all too well._

_After a moment of silence Haley finally spoke. "Thank you," It was a whisper._

All he ever did with Haley was be patient with her. It seemed to be better for them when he was. Who did it really benefit? How many more attempts was he willing to make? _Not many. _

Maybe one more time wouldn't hurt. All he had to do was make Haley know that he was going to be there for her. It was worth that much for him. He looked over to her and began inching his way closer to her.

Haley knew what was going to come next. She couldn't do it. She couldn't do it because it made her feel sick to her stomach. His lips were so close to overlapping hers. Luckily, she was able to turn her head just in time for them to land softly on her cheek. When they left her skin she heard the loud sigh from Nathan.

"Nathan, I'm sorry," she muttered. _Liar._

He shook his head. "No you're not." He got up from the couch. "You know, I'm trying to be patient with you and I don't understand why you won't talk to me. Maybe, I should just go." Nathan stopped himself for giving her any contact before leaving.

"I can't kiss you."

"Yes you can. You've done it plenty of times before without any trouble." He said. His anger was starting to show through.

Haley stood up as well and watched as he went for the door. She didn't even try to stop him.

Was that it? Did that mean that she wouldn't have to parade herself around like Nathan's bimbo? Haley felt a small weight being lifted from her shoulders. The part she didn't understand was that small amount of pain lurching in her chest.

_Next time you point a finger… I'll point you to the mirror. _

…


	6. Another Song About the Weekend

_Everyone I used to know_

_Says they don't know what I've become_

_But I'm still the same_

_Not much has changed_

_I still know where I came from_

"Another Song About the Weekend"- A Day To Remember

This is what she wanted, She didn't want to play some role just to satisfy the world she was in; a world that she wished to escape from. If this was some kind of test, then she didn't want to pass it. There was nothing wrong with her real life. Nothing. She was quite positive about that. As far as Haley was certain, she was going to continue on being here her way. Unfortunately, this was going to be harder due to Peyton and Lucas, Brooke, and Nathan all having new roles. All she wanted was to be around something familiar. Was it worth changing who these people were just so she could have some satisfaction? No, she could never do that. Little did Haley know, she was. She was trying to get away from some happy relationship that her and Nathan had. Also she was trying to figure out her act of betrayal that caused her best friends to go astray. There was one person that she was eager to change: Haley James.

Haley was two different people. One person she loved and the other she would never want to associate herself with. She was passionate about her education. Her parents were free-spirited and embarrassing. Two friends were enough for her. She hated that arrogant jock, who claimed himself king. Now she was "supposed to" love her role as popular cheerleader. Haley was never one to party, but in this world she never missed a single one. Her best friend was Brooke, the bubbly cousin of her basketball star boyfriend, Nathan.

The two personalities didn't match up. She couldn't go against what she believed and get sucked into whatever the second version of herself wanted. For some reason, it was Nathan. Being her true self wasn't exactly working either. No matter how much she tried, she ended up looking like a fool in her peers' eyes. There was no was to satisfy either.

Now, Haley stood in the school's parking lot. This morning, when Brooke picked her up a drove to the school, Brooke had been silent. That wasn't the Brooke Davis she knew. At least Haley could guess why the brunette didn't speak to her. Nathan must have mentioned to Brooke that Haley had broken up with him. If Brooke weren't Nathan's cousin, then Brooke would want to have a heart to heart, right? This world wasn't the only new thing to Haley. She wasn't a master when it came to relationships or breakups.

What was she going to tell Brooke? Obviously, she was going to have to lie to her because there was no way anyone would believe the truth.

"Brooke, I…"

"I just don't understand," Brooke cut in, "You and Nathan are like the perfect couple. I haven't seen you so happy, Hales. You and I both know that Nathan's life isn't as great as everyone else thinks it is. He cares about you so much. Nobody ever thought that Nathan could care about another person." Brooke looked at Haley sincerely.

His life wasn't perfect? Then why would he parade around school like he was a prince? Haley wanted to laugh at the fact that 'the perfect boy had problems' scenario but it would be rude and inappropriate. Plus, Haley started thinking about the possible signs. First, Nathan told her that he spent every Thursday night at her house due to the problems he was having with his father. Nathan didn't really go into details about the issue, but all Haley knew was that his father was a pressure in his life. Then, at the basketball game, she had seen the way the mayor spoke to his son. It was awful. Haley would have thought that Nathan would stick up for his self. That was why his father kept digging on him; because Nathan was appearing weak.

"Can you just explain to me what went wrong between the two of you all of the sudden?" Brooke pleaded. "I just want to se my best friend and my cousin happy again."

She wouldn't understand. Haley bit her lip s she tried thinking of a lie, which Brooke would probably see right through.

"Is there such thing as being too happy?" Haley asked Brooke.

"There's nothing wrong with being happy. I've never met a person who would choose misery."

"Too much happiness can really be misery in disguise." She mumbled.

Brook raised her brow as she tried to figure out what Haley had said. Then she turned to look at the school. "We should get going, Hales. We'll talk later. I promise."

Hale nodded ahs she let out a sigh. What could one small breakup do to a social society? She was about to find out.

As Haley followed Brooke over to the squad, she heard the girls giggling loudly.

"Alright, what's so funny?" Brooke demanded. When she reached the squad she saw Rachel in the middle of the group. She guessed that Rachel had started something up.

"Nothing." Rachel smiled then she turned to Haley, "I heard that you broke up with Nathan. You did a good thing. Now, I won't have to try and take him from you."

Haley rolled her eyes because she knew that Nathan wasn't going to go for Rachel. If he cared as about her as much as everyone said he did, then he wouldn't be looking.

"Rachel, why are you such an inconsiderate whore?" Brooke asked with her hands on her hips. "Nathan isn't in the mood for any STDs. Besides, I think they'll get back together in no time." She smiled confidently towards Haley.

All the other girls, besides Rachel, quickly jumped to agreement with Brooke.

"Now, if I see or hear any of you give Haley a hard time, then I have no problem dishing the dirt on any of you. Except for Rachel, since she loves that people know that she's a slut."

"Brooke…" Haley tried to cut in. there was no reason for her to threaten the girls with nasty talk. Haley pulled Brooke away from the others. "Okay, thanks for sticking up for me, but did you really have to say that you would do that?"

"Girls are vicious creatures."

Haley wanted to tell Brooke that she was better than that. Yeah, she knew that girls could be esteem killers, but Brooke always acted kind towards her. That was the Brooke she never thought she would see. It was a shame that this was the way Brooke chose to act.

The bell rang and the rush of people outside crammed through the door to get inside. A few people stood talking to their friends like the bell didn't control them.

XXX

Nathan looked to clock as he sat at his desk. He couldn't focus on his work because all he could think about what he was going to say when he saw Haley. Yesterday, he spent his entire day being angry. How could he make her understand? It was obvious that she didn't even want to try and understand. He couldn't force her because that would just push them further apart. Was he being too pushy?

He tapped his pencil against his leg. Even though they have only been going out for five months, Nathan felt that Haley could be _the_ girl. Sure, his father thought the exact opposite, but it wasn't his father's choice. Haley made Nathan happy and that didn't seem to matter to him. Dan Scott was all about being the best. Nothing in Nathan's life should be Dan's decision.

As Nathan felt his anger slowly coming back, he felt a manicured nail stab him in the shoulder. He turned to see Rachel peering over her desk so that he was able to see under her tank top. _Typical._

"I hear about you and Haley. I'm here if you need to talk." She placed her hand back on his shoulder.

By talk she meant sex. Every guy knew that and not every guy wanted her. She paraded herself around like every guy did.

"Something tells me that I wouldn't enjoy one of your discussions. I wouldn't do that to Haley."

"You wouldn't be. You're single now. You and I both know that Nathan Scott doesn't mind a little…conversation." Her fingernails pinched into his skin as they crawled up his neck.

Nathan reached and grabbed her wrists. "I'm not interested," he firmly stated.

Hearing the bell sound was Nathan's lifesaver. He quickly got up and rushed out of the room. As he turned the corner he saw Haley walking towards him. As much as he wanted to talk to her, he suddenly didn't want to be near her. Nothing he had said made a difference to her. One full day apart wasn't going to change her mind. If Nathan could guess, she probably didn't even think of him.

He walked into the gym. He was lucky to have this class in the middle of the day so he could blow off some steam. Nathan sat down on the cushioned seat of the bench press, waiting for another guy to come in to spot him.

After awhile, he heard the screech of the metal door handle. His blue eyes met with the eyes of the same color.

They used to be best friends and now they were complete strangers. The truth was simple. After middle school, they say that people change. Lucas could argue that was exactly what happened to Nathan. In reality, the two just grew apart. Freshman year, both boys tried out for the basketball team. The coach said that both players had the star potential, but there was only room for one on the team. Nathan was the one that he wanted. The case was not that Nathan dropped Lucas as soon as he made the team. That was only the start. Nathan told Lucas that he was only hanging out with the other guys because he needed to bond with the team and prove that a freshman deserved to be on the team. At first, that was all that it was. Then Nathan felt that he had a better chance at surviving school if he hung out with the other jocks. No, Nathan didn't change. He was just afraid. Also, Nathan had one other person pushing him to high school basketball stardom, his father. Dan had told him that Lucas wasn't going to wait around forever. It was funny how Dan was actually right bout something.

Now, they were in the same room as each other. It was no use to pretend that everything was okay.

Nathan watched as Lucas' blank stare remained unchanged. He motioned over to the weight bench he sat at.

Lucas raised his brow in question.

"You're the only one here and I need a spotter." Nathan couldn't believe that Lucas was acting oblivious.

"Sorry," Lucas muttered.

Nathan let out a sigh, "Whatever, man." Then Nathan leaned backwards so he was flat on his back, underneath the metal bar.

He grabbed the bar and started lifting. Every time the weight hit his chest, he thought about walking away from Haley. That's exactly how he felt whenever he screwed up with her or his father; like there was a heavy weight bearing on his chest and he was the only one who could lift the pressure off.

With help from Lucas, Nathan placed the bar back on the resting notches. He breathed heavily and Lucas passed him a bottle of water.

"Haley's in one of my classes." Lucas spoke as he passed another bottle to Nathan.

"Yeah?"

"Is she all right? She's been acting weird."

"I've noticed. Why do you care about her all of the sudden? You and Peyton have pretty much treated her like she didn't exist. That's shady, man." Nathan wiped his face with his towel.

"I could the say the say about you."

Nathan looked over to Lucas. "Look, I know that we were close. I didn't think that things were going to change, but they did. Now, we just have to live with it. If you want things to go back to how they were, then it's a lost cause. You can hate me all you want. The truth is that the truth sucks."

Lucas hinted that something was wrong with Nathan. They didn't have to have the friends label to know that something wasn't right with the other. Lucas also knew that Nathan wasn't going to confide in him about anything.

He walked out leaving them just the way they were.

XXX

Haley sat in the hallway, waiting for Brooke to be done talking to their Calculus teacher.

There was a glimpse of how she knew. Nathan had ignored her. Haley never cared that Nathan didn't notice her. She actually felt lucky that she was a nobody to him. For some reason that pain she felt Saturday night, when he left, came haunting back as he passed her this morning. She did ask for space and maybe that was what he was giving her. Too bad, he didn't know she wanted permanent time away.

"Let's go, Hales." Brooke said sadly.

Haley stood up, "I'm guessing he's not going to allow you to have a retake?"

"Nope. I thought teachers wanted us to succeed? I wish I was more like you sometimes."

"Huh?"

"Don't play dumb. You're beautiful, like me, and smart, not like me. I don't know how you got so lucky."

There was the Brooke she couldn't recognize from earlier. Haley put her arm across the brunette's shoulders. "You're lucky, too."

"How?" She pouted as they headed outside to eat lunch.

"Well, you know how to shut a group of vicious girls up. I'm not strong enough to do that."

"Someone has to put them in their place. Plus, you're my best friend. I mean what quality do I have that you're really really jealous of? Oh, it can't be that I'm related to Nathan because that is so going to happen."

"I thought you were upset about Nathan and I not being together anymore."

"I don't see it as anymore. I see it as not at the moment."

"You're optimistic. That's what I'm jealous of. You're this bubbly, cheery, beautiful, popular girl that has a huge heart. You could care less about negativity, which I seem to have a lot of. We all have both in us and you choose the better of the two."

Brooke smiled and hugged her friend tightly. "I'm glad that I have you, Buddy. Now, about you and Nathan,"

Haley let out a groan. "Can't we just drop it for a few days? If we're meant to be, then I'll fix it myself."

"But, I like hooking people up."

Haley chuckled as they continued to walk. As they walked she saw Nathan with some of the guys from the team, as well as some of the cheerleaders. He was laughing, but Haley could tell that he was unhappy. He was unhappy with her.

Maybe the answer was to give up trying to be whom she knew that she was and she had to take on this role. Trying to make things the way she wanted wasn't working in her favor due to the fact that Nathan was hurting. She wasn't supposed to care because she never thought she would see the day that Nathan Scott wasn't his "perfect" self. It wasn't going to be easy or in any way fun, but it would make her head hurt less.

…..

**The story is back! I know that I haven't been updating for it, but luckily the spark came back! I've really have missed writing this story. **

**Please review! **


	7. Lost Tree

_You're lost in this place,_

_I see it in your face,_

_Lost in this place,_

_I see it in your face._

"Lost Tree"-VersaEmerge

He knew that what he was doing to her was wrong. It wasn't easy being put in the middle between two best friends. He knew why he chose Peyton over Haley and he knew that he should have never had to choose between them. The three of them weren't always friends. After losing Nathan, to pretty much the entire school, Lucas had met Haley and Peyton in his Literature class. The other students thought that Lucas was weak just because he would only really talk to the two girls. Nathan was among them. Nathan. Sure, he wished that basketball didn't define him, but the youngest varsity player had now pulled Haley into his circle. The worst part was that Lucas and Peyton needed Haley the most and at the time she became Nathan Scott's girlfriend. One person can hold too much power over another. Nathan's words rung in his ears:

"'_Y__ou and Peyton have pretty much treated her like she didn't exist. That's shady, man.'"_

"'_If you want things to go back to how they were, then it's a lost cause. The truth is that the truth sucks.'"_

He pulled his hands roughly threw his hair, while the words stung his other thoughts like paralyzing venom. Nathan was right. They had treated Haley poorly. Peyton had no problem showing it, but Lucas was battling. He didn't want to cut Haley out of his life just because she met Nathan and changed. He didn't want to be like Nathan.

The only problem was that Nathan was right. The truth did suck.

"Lucas!"

Lucas turned to see Peyton walking towards where he was sitting. How could she be so kind with him and then turn so rude when Haley showed up or was even mentioned?

Peyton dropped her bag and slid next to him on the bench. "I thought you would be in the gym."

"I was." He stated simply, as his head hung low. "Nathan was there, too."

"Oh, boy."

"Yeah, he seemed pretty broken up over Haley. In English today, Haley didn't seem to be herself either. I think they might have gotten in a fight or have broke up."

"And you care why?" She was taken back by the judgmental look in his eyes. Then she sighed, "Look, I know that he used to your friend and she used to be our friend but,"

"But, nothing. Don't you think you're being a little insensitive?" He felt his anger rising. He had held back his words because he didn't want to upset Peyton. This was something that she had to hear, even if she didn't want to. "Peyton, it was months ago. I know it's hard for you to get over what happened. You can't just punish Haley forever. I can't do that to her because I still care about her and I know you do, too."

She was about to speak, but the words wouldn't come out. Instead, Peyton watched as the scruffy blonde walked away.

He didn't understand. That's what she always rationalized. Lucas didn't know what it was like to lose so much in a short amount of time.

She shook her head, before getting up and following him. When she finally caught up with him, she linked her arm through his. "So, you're going to just forgive her?"

Lucas removed Peyton's arm from his. "I think that it's time to. She really seems to miss us."

"I don't know, Luke. There's a part of me that just doesn't want to believe her. She doesn't even remember what happened. You can't go from ignoring somebody to just becoming inseparable. I know that we went from that to nothing, but think about all that time in between."

Lucas looked over to Peyton. "I miss her. We may not ever be friends, but she should at least know that she's forgiven."

XXX

It wasn't that Brooke didn't want to finish her free period sitting with her best friend; she just didn't want to spend it with Haley keeping to herself. Haley never had trouble being able to talk to her. Talking about her relationship with her cousin was actually something she didn't mind hearing about because they were both happy to be together. There never was any evidence that the two were having problems. It was something with Haley, though. Brooke just couldn't put her finger on it.

Across the quad, she spotted her cousin. He sat with the team and some of the squad. She would be there now if she didn't decide to stick to Haley's side. She watched as Nathan ate his lunch. Usually, he would let Haley pick off of his tray before getting his share.

Then she watched as Rachel took Haley's seat beside her cousin. Nathan ignored her as her and went under the table. Everyone knew that Rachel was interested in Nathan. Actually, she was too interested. Brooke tried to lean over in order to see what Rachel hand was doing, but she couldn't see.

"Hales, I'll be right back." Brooke stood up from the grass and bushed off her pants. Then she walked over to where her friends were sitting.

She placed her hands on the table and leaned in to whisper in Nathan's ear, "Nate, are you aware that you have crabs crawling up your leg?"

Nathan gave her a weird look before looking to his thigh. He let out an annoyed sigh, "Rachel, I already told you that nothing's going to happen. Now, I think Tim would like some of your unwanted attention." Nathan motioned over to his friend, who was currently proving to everybody at the table that he could fit all his French fries into his mouth.

Brooke smirked at Rachel as she rolled her eyes and left to go talk to Bevin. She took her seat next to Nathan. "How you holding up?"

"It's weird, you know?" Nathan looked over to Haley, before lowering his voice, "Something isn't right with her. I just feel like she's keeping something from me. Do you have any idea what's going on?"

"You mean beside the fact that she doesn't think anything around her is real? Nope. I've tried to get her to talk to me, but she's a stubborn girl, Nate."

"I just wish I knew what it was. This is all too weird for me. How could she just forget everything and then start accusing me of being some mindless, daddy's boy, jackass?"

Brooke rested her head on his shoulder as she started watching Haley. Alone did not suit the girl. It didn't really suit anybody. She knew what it was like to be in a house without parents. That was one thing that she could only talk about with Haley. All the other girls would think that she was nothing. Haley would never think such a thing.

"If it makes you feel any better, Nathan, she told me that if you two were meant for each other, then she would fix it. That was after she said the kindest thing anyone has ever said to me,"

Nathan's cheek rested on her soft hair, "I know you're trying to make me feel better, but did you have to make it about you?"

She quietly laughed.

"Could you do me a favor?"

Brooke instantly perked up at the mention of a favor, "What do have in mind? Do you want me to ask Haley to grab some extra equipment while you go to the same closet? Then when you're both in there I lock the door and you two work things out? No, that's too cliché. How about I…Nathan, are you even listening to me?"

"What I want is for you not to try and pry answers out of her. I especially do not want you to try any of your master plans. Just let her be."

Brooke pouted. "You are no fun." She swatted at his shoulder. "I'm going to go back to Haley now."

Nathan nodded. "Thanks, Brooke."

"I told you that I was rooting for you two," She winked at him before making her way back over to Haley.

"Sorry about that, Haley," Brooke said as she pranced back to her.

"It's okay. I guess I should be thanking you." Haley said slowly.

"For what?"

"For telling Rachel to back off of Nathan, again. You didn't have to do that." Haley began playing with the blades of grass. She felt herself becoming nervous, which she didn't need to pretend about not knowing why.

Brooke smiled. "Does he still get to you that way?"

Her hazel eyes peered from the green needles, "you could say that. So, how about we discuss the routine you wanted to teach at practice tonight? I bet it's going to be great."

Brooke knew exactly what Haley was doing. She always knew that she should keep her promise to Nathan and let Haley figure things out on her own. While going into detail about her new choreography, Brooke couldn't help but notice that Haley's attention was more focused on the dark haired, blue-eyed boy behind her. Usually, she didn't like when she was being ignored, but she let this time slide.

There was a reason, Haley concluded. There had to be a reason why she woke up here. As much as she didn't want to try this life out, she had a feeling that it was the only way that she could wake up back where she belonged. If that meant, she had to be Nathan's girlfriend, then she was going to have to be. Haley wasn't going to be able to just transition from being disgusted to acting like she had feelings for the guy. No, it had to be gradual. She wanted to know what made Haley fall for Nathan Scott in the first place. Then there was the conflict with Lucas and Peyton. Maybe it wasn't so much Lucas as it was Peyton. From what she knew, Peyton didn't want anyone to know her private life. How they became friends in the first place, was just luck. She hated to do this, but she was going to have to put them on hold for a little while.

Haley stretched while the bell rang. "I'll see you at practice, Brooke."

"Okay, so you understood my routine, right? I'm going to need you to help me demonstrate to the other girls, I hope you were paying attention."

"Um, I…Okay?"

Brooke smiled, "I'm kidding. I knew you weren't paying attention to me. You should have seen the look on your face."

"Cruel, Davis, very cruel." She stated before leaving to get to her final class before heading to the library to study. It was the only place she could be alone before practice started.

On her way up the stairs, she spotted Peyton and Lucas. Instead of going up to them, she looked away and kept walking to class.

XXX

Finally, she could go to the library. She only had a half an hour before practice, so she had to make the best of her time. Haley barely paid attention in her History class because she was too busy thinking about how she was going to deal with Nathan. If he was so hurt, how was he going to react to her telling him that she didn't want to get back together just yet? Nothing had come to her.

She sat down and opened her book so she could teach herself the things that she had missed. She remembered already learning about the government in her class last year. Actually she felt that every History class she had taken up to her junior year was the same. At least next year, she had the glory to sit in large lecture halls and learn the same thing until she fell asleep. What a vicious cycle that was going to be.

Haley peered up from her book when she saw two hands rest on the table, across from where she sat. It was Lucas. Did he notice that she had seen him just minutes before? "Hi," she whispered softly.

"History?"

"Um, yeah. Do you need something?"

He played with his fingers as he tried to think of the best way to talk to her. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm not angry with you. Peyton's not going to come around to you as easily. what you did isn't really what a best friend should do."

"Can you please just tell me what I did that was so wrong? Lucas, I don't know why you just can't tell me. Is it Peyton? if it is, well, she's not the boss of you. I won't tell her that you told me."

Lucas shook his head. "Peyton is not the boss of me. How could you not remember? Oh, that's right, you spend all your time with your boyfriend that you don;t have any time for us."

Nathan? Was he the reason why they were so upset with her?

Lucas got up from the table. "I know that you have a caring heart Haley, but before you give it to Nathan, could you just think about other people?" He waited for her to say something. She seemed speechless. "Well, I guess we'll leave it as that."

"Luke, I..." she sighed. this was causing her more stress than Nathan was. "I guess so."

XXX

After her quick time of cramming in the day's lesson, Haley looked to the clock to see that her half hour was practically over. She quickly threw her things into her bag and rushed down to the locker room.

"There you are. Where were you? You're so lucky I was nice enough to grab you your favorite," Brooke said as she handed Haley a coffee. "I don't even think it's good anymore."

"Um, thanks. Was I supposed to meet you somewhere? You didn't remind me at lunch." Haley said as she placed the full cup in her locker.

"Sorry, I forget sometimes that you're not up to speed with your own life."

Haley sighed. Did Brooke really believe her? "It's okay. I'll be back to Haley in no time."

Brooke raised her eyebrow. She was so confused with Haley. One moment she was ready to forget and the next she was acting like the Haley that everybody missed. Who was this girl?

"If you say so. Now, hurry up and change. Since you're my best friend and I'm captain, I'll give you five minutes to get your cheery butt to the court."

"Thanks,"

_Alright, Haley, how are you going to pretend to be this amazing cheerleading if you're a klutz? I bet it's going to be easier to like Nathan than it is to do gymnastics. _

Haley shook her head. She was going to make this work even if she had to keep on arguing against her instincts.

_Just slap on a smile and get out there._

Haley groaned as she finished changing and went to join the other girls for stretching, they sat long the bleachers and in a corner of the gym. There was no doubt that these girls were born flexible. They made every stretch seem easy. They could be bent in half and not even snap. Haley knew that she was going to have to give a bit more effort than these girls.

She took a seat next to Brooke, "Can I ask you a question?"

"You can ask me anything."

"Am I a good cheerleader?"

Brooke laughed, "If you weren't, then I wouldn't let you be on the squad. I'd probably also be friends with Rachel if you never tried out."

Haley looked over to Rachel, who wasn't even warming up. Well, she was warming up, to the guys. How one person could hold so much confidence and not even care about anything surprised to her. Was there anything that made Rachel Gatina human?

Practice started off pretty easy. Haley was able to keep to the beat to the music as Brooke led their home game cheer. Haley actually memorized it from all the games Lucas had brought her to. It was more like engraved into her memory, like an annoying song.

Brooke told the girls that they did a great job when the routine was finished, "Alright, we know that next week the boys will be playing a pretty important game. We're going to need a good cheer to keep them motivated."

Brooke's speech blurred from Haley's focus as she looked over to see what the guys were doing. She wasn't going to lie about how great Nathan looked. She watched as Nathan's muscle expanded and contracted as he shot the ball through the net. She found herself smiling.

"Eh hem," Brooke cleared her throat, "Hales, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm…yeah."

Brooke walked over to Haley. "Are you sure, I think you were ogling your Boy Toy. That's the second time today. Maybe breaking up with him wasn't such a good idea."

"So, this cheer?" Haley perked up.

Brooke shook her head and went back to showing the girls who was doing what stunt.

After practice was over, Haley and Brooke walked down to the parking lot. Haley didn't know if she wanted to tell Nathan that he did great at practice. She didn't know how to act.

"When you break up with someone, usually you don't talk for awhile. He wants to let you be or whatever he said." Brooke opened her car door and peered over to her friend, "Get in, I'll take you home." Brooke sighed before getting in her car.

Haley got in after Brooke and saw that Nathan still hadn't come out from the gym entrance. Practice was well over. She only stayed because Brooke needed help putting some things away and Brooke was her ride home.

"You did really good at practice even with ignoring my explanation twice," Brooke joked.

"If only I could be that good at paying attention in my classes. I completely spaced out for the entire class today."

"That's not like you. I don't even do that in my calculus class. You'll be fine."

Brooke pulled into Haley's driveway. "Before you go, I know that you don't want to talk about Nathan and Nathan doesn't want me playing matchmaker, but next Thursday's the game and…"

Haley's smile faded. She completely forgot that Nathan slept at her house before game days to avoid his father. Now, that they weren't together he wouldn't have any place to avoid his dad. She already caught a glimpse of what his dad was like.

"I mean he could stay the night at my house. I just know that he prefers to stay with you."

He did?

"We'll just have to see how the rest of our week goes. I'm not going to ignore him forever, Brooke."

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry for bringing it up. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah,"

Brooke nodded before giving Haley a quick hug. Haley got out of the car and turned around as Brooke beeped her horn and drove off.

All through class there was something on Haley's mind. It was the picture that she studied when she first woke up to find Nathan Scott in her bed. She remembered it so clearly. It was their smiles. Even though they were kissing, they both were extremely content with each other. Haley couldn't remember a time in her life when she was ever that happy and she never thought Nathan could be that way, either.

What was it like to be Haley James?

**Thank you guys for the reviews last chapter. I'm glad to hear that you've missed this story. **

**Some of the things from the world Haley knows will be in this second world. So if relationship between characters or anything confuses you, then that could be why. **

**I'm actually really excited about what I have planned for this story. Don't worry; it won't take me so many chapters to give you some Naley as I have in past stories. **

**Oh, and I hope I made it clear with what's going on with Haley. **

**Please Review!**


	8. If It Means a Lot to You

And don't you dare say  
'we can just be friends'  
I'm not some boy that you can sway

"If It Means a Lot to You"-A Day to Remember

It was time to be different. Usually, Haley would be against changing whom she was just to fit in. This was for different purposes. She _had _to fit in to understand. For Haley, that meant she was going to have to be what these people knew her as being. No longer would she be able to try and fix things with Peyton and Lucas. That would have to come with time. She would have to be popular. Luckily, she was already Brooke's friend. It was almost as if she was living in a puzzle and she was the last piece that didn't belong with the rest. In order for this puzzle to be complete, she had to stop trying to force herself to fit into the space.

Over the past few days, she had thought about Nathan. Yes, she wanted to be able to be this character, but she knew that Nathan had to be involved in the equation. He happened to be a major part of the equation. The only part she was having trouble with figuring out was how she was going to tell him. He still seemed pretty disappointed about how their relationship hit a downfall. She knew it was because of her. Nathan seemed to be an understanding guy; a trait she would never have thought the boy possessed. Telling him that she wanted to take things slow wouldn't work because apparently she missed out on the start of it. She wanted to get to know him and Haley wouldn't admit that to anyone. Being friends would be too weird for Nathan because he cared a lot about her. Friends would be good for her just until she had all of this figured out.

"Well, this is it," she let out a loud sigh. She placed her bag on her shoulder and walked outside of her house to meet Brooke.

Brooke smirked brightly as Haley sat beside her. "Looking hot, James. What's the occasion?"

"I just thought this was more me." Haley looked down at the outfit she picked out for the day. She wore a long shirt, loose fitted, with shortened sleeves. Her legs fit snug in her jeans and her boots were comfortable to walk in. Sure, it looked great, but it took Haley a while to figure out what to actually put on.

"I'd say it suits you well." She pulled out of the driveway and sped up. She kept giving Haley small glances. For the past two days she noticed that Haley was falling back into who she really was. Brooke kept the bubble of excitement in because she knew that Haley didn't need her to spaz out about what was happening. All Brooke wanted for her friend was the feeling of falling in love and she knew that Nathan could give her that. It was a feeling that she wanted to have.

"Thanks," Haley looked down at what she was wearing, again, and it actually put a smile on her face.

"Alright, so you know that Rachel is after my cousin, but this," she motioned to Haley's attire, "will be a shocker to her."

"It's just an outfit, Brooke. It's not like I'm going to school naked."

"Which you should totally do!"

"Brooke!" Haley rolled her eyes. Sometimes she could be too imaginative.

"What? You've got the body for it. " She said with a shrug.

"Just park." Haley pointed towards the school.

Brooke chuckled and shook her head. It was good to have her back.

After pulling into the parking lot, Haley got out and scanned for Nathan. The only way for people to stop making up rumor about the pair was if they were seen together. It would also give Nathan a sense of hope, which Haley didn't know if she was truly willing to give.

"Looking for someone?" Brooke asked as she threw her purse over her shoulder.

"Believe me or not, I'm actually looking for Nathan. Before you do that jumping and giggling thing you always do, I just want to talk to him." Haley watched the excitement boil up in Brooke's eyes and smile.

"This is great!" Brooke squealed. "He'll be here. Probably later than usual because he doesn't have to lug you to school."

Haley was still a bit nervous about approaching Nathan and being around him. She was going to have to learn to brush that feeling aside in order to appease the bitch named, Karma.

She felt Brooke's arm link with hers. Then she was being pulled towards the school. "As your best friend, let me give you some advice: don't wait around for him. I mean you don't want to look needy to talk to Nathan."

Haley stopped and turned to Brooke. "That's ridiculous! Who says I'm being needy? I would never use that word to describe myself.

"It's not you, Hales. It's everyone else."

"I don't care what they think." She said with pride.

Brooke shook her head, "Yeah, you do, Sweetie. That's how everyone feels. Some more than others." She shrugged and began walking again. "Just text him. It's why we have cell phones."

Haley sighed. Should she wait for him, like she wanted to or listen to Brooke and let technology fix her supposed wrongdoing?

_Meet me after practice-H_

Before joining Brooke, Haley peered over her shoulder one last time. The familiar car wasn't in its space.

xxx

"What you looking at, Playa? Haley sending you sexy photos of herself?" Tim asked, trying to peer over the taller boy's shoulder.

Nathan took his eyes off the message before shoving Tim away. "No, you horn dog. Don't talk about her like, either." He gave him a warning look.

Nathan was surprised that she texted him this morning. At first, he decided that it was best to ignore it. He didn't want to get his hopes up that it was going to be good news. His guess was that she just wanted to talk to him and see how he was holding up.

"I see you're not really up for talking about her. If I were you, I'd just forget about Haley. Man, you're Nathan Scott. You have every girl at this school falling at your feet." Tim gave Nathan a strong pat on the shoulder.

Nathan turned his head to face his friend. "You have no idea what it's like, Tim. You've never had a relationship with a girl like Haley. Actually, when was your last relationship?" He raised his brow.

Tim backed away, before heading to the quad to try and pull his 'moves' on the cheer squad, before Brooke would pull him away by his ear, like a little kid.

Nathan shut his phone and shoved it back in his pocket. He ran a hand through his hair due to his stress. It wasn't just because he was having problems with his girlfriend, if that who she even was. Next week he had an important game and nowhere to go to ignore his father. He used Haley's as a safe house and now he was going to get an earful. His father was probably going to give him a huge lecture because he knew that Nathan was purposely avoiding him on game days.

Nathan felt his legs lock and he slid against the wall to sit on the ground. He rested his head in his hands. The days couldn't go by fast enough.

"Ah, there's my favorite cousin," Brooke happily bounded over to where Nathan was. She stopped when she saw how frustrated he was. "That's no way to act," she joked. When he didn't acknowledge her with a look, she took a seat next to him.

"Hey," she nudged him with her elbow.

He lifted his head slowly and gave her a small smile. "What's up, Brooke?"

"For starters, you aren't fooling me for a second, Nate. What? Did you fail your Biology exam? I told you that class wasn't going to be easy for you."

"No, I'm just dealing with stuff. It's nothing I need to explain to you. You don't need to keep me company. I'll be out in the quad. I just needed a minute to myself."

Brooke bit her lip. She wondered if Haley had talked to him yet. She was guessing that she hadn't because then Nathan would probably be in a better mood. Should she tell him that she was looking for him this morning or should she just stay out of it? Usually, she would hint onto things that she knew because she loved knowing when others didn't. Even with it being between her cousin and her best friend, maybe it was better if Brooke stayed out of it. Haley was hinting to Brooke that she didn't need her getting involved. Haley needed to understand that she was just trying to help two people who should be together.

"Promise? I don't want to come back and witness you trading sappy stories with the janitor," she joked.

He let out a deep chuckle, "No worries. I may be upset, but I'm not going to show my emotions towards the school janitor. I have a reputation, Davis."

"Good to know." She got herself up from the floor. Before she left, she turned back to Nathan, "You and Haley are going to get there. I know it."

He sighed, "I hope you're right. With the way she's been acting, I don't think things are going to go back to the way they were."

"Doing nothing isn't going to get you there and since when does Nathan Scott let something he wants pass him by?"

Nathan didn't respond as he heard Brooke's shoes click against the floor. She was right. He was not the type of guy to take no for an answer, but that did not make Haley fall for him. She was too smart for his games and he loved the challenge.

xxx

Haley watched as Nathan stepped onto the quad. He had yet to answer the message she sent him earlier. She never wanted to admit to anyone that she had a hard time paying attention in class just for his reply because she was always studious.

"Would you just go talk to him already?" Brooke whined. "It's either you make the first move or you two are just going to keep driving me crazy. I've decided not to drop this no matter how much we're best friends. This is something you have to fix!" She huffed.

Haley chuckled, "I didn't think you felt so strongly about my relationship with Nathan."

"Yeah, well I am." She pouted. Then she let out a sigh. "I just want you to be back to normal again. You used to be carefree and happy and now you're so uncertain. I want my best friend back."

Haley picked at the food on her tray. "If you must know, Nathan and I are meeting up after practice. At least I hope we are."

The brunette instantly perked up. "This is so great and then you'll call me as soon as he drops you off at home! If he drops you off…."

"Whoa, there, Davis."

"You know you were thinking about it."

"Gross, he's your cousin." Haley swatted at her.

Brooke just rolled her eyes. She got up and motioned fro Haley to do the same. "Now, let's go join our friends and give Nathan a glimpse of your new outfit." She didn't let Haley try to protest as she linked arms with her and started walking.

"And here we thought that you forgot about us." Tim said loudly as Brooke and Haley stopped in front of them.

"How could anymore forget you?" Brooke said sarcastically. "Good to see you here, Nate." She winked at her cousin that she had spoken to earlier.

All Nathan did was nod. He stopped when his eyes found Haley's body. Her jeans hugged her just right. As his eyes traveled up he found loose shirt. A part of him wished that she had worn a tighter one, but the protective part of him was pleased that she hadn't. He could see that Haley was coming around, but he still thought about why she believed that this was all some sort of twisted dream.

He was making it pretty obvious that he was staring at her. Haley could feel his blue eyes burning her as they continued to study her. Curses ran through her mind, as she didn't detest the way he was looking at her.

She nervously sat beside him and felt their thighs gently touch.

"Nathan, did you get my text?' She asked weakly. _Nice Haley, make him think that you were waiting for him all day. _

"Um, yeah," was all he responded with.

"So, I'll see you after practice then?"

"Okay."

"Is there something wrong?"

"Is there anything else you could say instead of asking me questions all the time? I said that I would meet you after practice, so just leave it at that."

Haley looked to Brooke, who just shrugged.

The rest of lunch remained silent between Nathan and Haley. The guys were in an uproar as they talked about certain girls on the squad and tried to gross them out with their eating habits. It was pretty much what Haley would call typical. Every so often she would look over to Nathan, who was pretending to be involved in what the team was doing.

When the bell rang Haley quickly got up and left. Brooke was about to follow her out, but she stopped to have another word with Nathan.

"Okay, so I thought you wanted Haley back? Instead you treat her like she wasn't even there. I don't know what's going on through your male brain, but that was not the Nathan that I just talked to an hour ago."

Nathan smirked, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

"Oh, so this is all part of your little plan? Piss off the girl?" Brooke's hands rested on her hips. "I want her back just as much as you do, but if you make things worse prepare for more than one moody girl."

Nathan chuckled.

"I mean it, Nathan. This is your only warning." She turned and quickly walked in her heels, in order to catch up with Haley.

xxx

"So, this is it." Brooke nudged Haley. Haley felt chills as Brooke's pom-pom brushed against her arm. It reminded her of Nathan's touch.

She watched as the boys walked back to the locker room. Throughout practice she found herself taking glances at Nathan. He was so focused on being the perfect player. He didn't need to be because he had the natural talent. She wished that she could have told him that while they were together, but she stopped herself from falling for him. It could never happen.

"I don't know about this anymore, Brooke. He didn't seem interested in me at all during lunch today."

"Don't worry about that. He's always interested in you. Why do you think he used to be an ass to you and Lucas?"

_Whoa, what? _Haley couldn't ask Brooke what she was talking about because she was already supposed to know about the past. That didn't mean that Nathan was being an ass just because he liked her. No. He had been an ass long before she had ever met him. Lucas told her that Nathan had always been bitter and arrogant towards him because Dan chose him and his mom over Lucas and his. That was the story she believed because it was more logical.

"Oh, well I just thought he was that way all the time." She answered truthfully. She added "but, I guess he proved me wrong," to stay in character.

"Then I see no problem." Brooke started dragging Haley with her to their locker room. She wanted Haley and Nathan to talk as soon as possible so she could hear what happened between them sooner than later. Brooke did seem pushy, but she knew it was all in good cause.

After Haley had changed out of her warm ups and listening to Brooke talk about more possibilities of what was about to occur, she finally got out of the gym. _And I thought I rambled._ She was now waiting for Nathan by the doors. She had it all thought out.

The doors opened every few minutes as the athletes were leaving school for the day. Haley smiled to a few of the girls she had previously seen. She attempted to wave to Lucas, but his mind seemed elsewhere. None of the people passing by were Nathan and that's when Haley started to feel more anxious. The chances of the next person being Nathan were now much greater.

Her eyes instantly went to the large doors as they opened again. They were some of Nathan's buddies, which it seemed as they were hers as well. One nodded to her and she politely smiled back. Nathan had to be coming next. Maybe he was procrastinating so long because he thought that she would give up and leave.

Or maybe that wasn't the case. Nathan Scott was the next one out.

"Hey," she greeted shyly.

His gym bag hung across his torso and over his shoulder. His hair looked damp, which Haley hoped wasn't sweat.

"Sorry, I took so long," he mumbled. Then he sighed. "So what's so important that you couldn't just tell me earlier?" He began walking away.

Haley sheepishly followed him, "I know that I'm not being fair to you, but I'm not lying either, Nathan. I really don't belong _here._"

He shook his head. "That's something I will never understand."

"Obviously, there's some reason as to why I woke up in this different life. I want to know why and I am going to figure it out. I just want whatever's between us to be less…"

"Together?"

It was her turn to sigh, "It's not what you want, but it's what I need. Where I'm from, I hate your guts and you don't acknowledge my existence."

He gave her a look of bewilderment. It was like she was talking nonsense. "It's not that way now and we're happy together. Well, we were."

"This is a lot for you to take. How do you think I felt when I woke up next to you? Besides crazy."She pointed her finger at him

He let out a tiny chuckle, which wasn't expected. "Is this all you wanted to tell me? That you aren't crazy?"

"No. Actually, I thought that we could try being friends. I mean, if I'm your girlfriend then there had to be something about you. I'm not saying that I'm going to find out what that is and be with you again. Your life of being a complete ass is burned into my memory."

"I can see that."

He stared at her. There was no way that he wanted to agree to her terms. They couldn't go from an amazing relationship to friends. It was too weird. There were things between them that didn't scream friendship. If this was the only way he could keep Haley, then maybe he had to. Suddenly, he found the solution that he knew would satisfy the both of them. Haley James wanted them to be friends. She was going to realize soon that her foolproof idea was anything but, if Nathan had anything to do about it.

"Okay."

"Okay? Good." She gave a triumphed nod and smile.

"I'm guessing that Brooke drove home already and is waiting by her phone for you to call her so you two can talk about this? I know my cousin too well."

"She's spontaneous when she wants to be." Haley found herself agreeing with him.

"Yeah, so I'll get the car and give you a lift home. It's what friends are for, right?"

"Exactly."

She watched as Nathan walked off. That went too well and that was something she could get used to in Nathan. This never would have happened in a million years. This world seemed to give her one in that million.


	9. Stuttering

**AN: Thanks you for the reviews last chapter. I know that's it's been pretty long since I have updated this story. Sadly, this will be the last update from me for a while. If you've been reading or following my twitter, then you know that my cousin is fighting cancer for the second time. We have decided to take our last vacation together, so I will be gone for that and I will be starting college soon after. I hope that I will have time to write, but I'm not sure.**

**Before I left, I wanted to give you guys another chapter because you all deserve it! **

xxx

_You walk into the room and I_

_I, I-I, I, I, I-I, I._

_I wanna tell ya, tell ya, but I just can't speak._

_This shouldn't be so difficult._

_Why-y. why-y-y-y-y-y,_

_Tell me why I see you and I just can't breathe._

"Stuttering"-The Friday Night Boys

She thought that being friends would be easy for Nathan, but he seemed more confused whenever he was around her. It had been a few days since they had agreed to be friends and nothing more. From what Haley had witnessed from their relationship, Nathan had no problem being around. He actually preferred to be with her. Now, Nathan was acting much more cautious with how he acted. He was not doing a great job at being discreet when his hands would go to touch her. Her skin seemed like a poison to him.

Falling into this routine wasn't going to be as easy for him as it was for her. Haley predicted it before she even told him about it. Even though she wasn't his biggest fan, she understood that it would be a rocky transition for Nathan.

Boy, was she right

The day after neither teen seemed to have a clue. They each were waiting for the other to make the first move. Haley had told Brooke about it on the way to lunch and she was hoping that Brooke had some of her advice. All her friend gave her was the dreaded word 'time'. Haley would have figured that one out but why didn't she?

Now, she walked by his side as they made their way down to the parking lot. The pair started making a habit of this and of course it had their fellow peers talking. The attention was always going to feel weird to Haley because she was used to being unnoticed. That all changed when someone becomes apart of Nathan Scott's world.

"So, what are our plans for tonight, since the trio is back together?" Brooke's voice seemed to come out of nowhere behind them, making them both jump. Brooke put one arm around Haley and her other around Nathan. He was a bit more difficult for her to reach.

Nathan looked down to Brooke. He was a little annoyed with her lately for always being around him and Haley. How was he supposed to have any time with her when they were on his cousin's radar?

"Well, if you can't think of anything, then I'll just tell you my great idea. I overheard Rachel…"

"Wait, you over heard her or you were eavesdropping? I know you, Brooke. Once you hear something interesting, you starting listening." Nathan said, cutting her off. He smirked when she elbowed him in the stomach.

Brooke released Haley from her other arm when they made it to her car. "It's rude to interrupt and it doesn't even matter. As I was trying to tell you guys, there's this new club for teens opening tonight and we are so going!" Brooke smiled brightly.

Nathan waited for Haley to answer Brooke. With the new way Haley was acting, Nathan knew that Haley wouldn't want to go to a club. Sure, he missed the fun side of his newly ex-girlfriend, but maybe he could offer an alternative of having Haley to his self and get Brooke to go with the girls with the squad.

To his liking, Haley was a bit apprehensive at first. She was not the type of girl to go out clubbing. She'd rather be with her family or curl up on the couch watching a romantic movie or read a book. That was all out the window. Now, she was the type of girl to go out on a Friday night and not care about the huge headache she was going to get the next morning.

"Great!" Brooke squealed, without hearing an answer from either Nathan or Haley. "I already have our entire night planned out. This is going to be so much fun, Hales. We'll go to my house right now and I'm going to pick out a bunch of clothes for you to wear." Brooke turned her attention to Nathan, without him letting get a word in. "Nathan, you can just meet us there." She smiled when she was finished.

Nathan just rolled his eyes as Brooke continued with her ongoing blabber. He was very much used to her plans. They usually all ended up the same way. Nathan would reject every guy that Brooke wanted to take home. None of the guys ever seemed genuine enough for her and Brooke wasn't sober enough to notice. Then after her temper tantrum Brooke would pull Haley away from him and take her, deep into the sea of people, on the dance floor. Nathan would be left alone praying that girls wouldn't try to flirt with him as he tried to keep his cool about other guys touching his girl. If he wished the tonight would be different, then he was wasting his time.

He was pulled from his thoughts from Brooke honking at him to move. She pulled out of the parking space excitedly. As she speed past him, he caught a glimpse of Haley waving. Oh, he was dreading tonight.

Once away from the school, Brooke turned up the dial on her radio. The bass from the speakers shakes the car.

"Tonight is going to be so awesome!" Brooke shouts over the volume.

Haley just smiled at her friend's excitement and pretended that she felt the same way. Really, she had no clue what she was getting into.

A while later, Brooke pulled up to a large house. It was quite larger than Haley's. the house was gorgeous with its clean white color and red door. She stepped out of the car to see the house's full beauty. Haley looked around and noticed that there were no other cars parked at the didn't know if Brooke's parents were around here. They weren't in the Tree Hill that she knew. She guessed that Brooke's parents were both at work. _How else would they be able to pay for this house?_

"You ready?" Brooke asks as she locked her car and threw her purse over her shoulder.

Haley nodded and followed Brooke. When they were inside Haley noticed that Brooke headed straight for the staircase. Of course she wouldn't show her around because she was supposed to know where everything was.

"Haley, c'mon!"

Haley sighed before following her up the large staircase. The wooden stairs barely creaked as both girls stepped on them.

Brooke's room was pretty much how Haley imagined it to be from her personality and from her teenage stereotypical mind. Brooke's walls were painted lavender. She had a vanity with pictures taped on the mirror. Her closet was filled with clothes and shoes. It was large, but it still looked like it could overflow. She even had her own bathroom. Haley remembered when she was younger that she always had to fight for her turn, due to the amount of people living in one house.

"Alright Tutor Girl, we have no time to waste." Brooke opened her closet and started scanning through all of her tops. Every time that she found something that matched she would toss it, hoping that they landed on the bed. When they didn't, Haley would quickly put them on the pile.

Looking at what was already out, Haley couldn't believe how they were going to try it all on. She had a feeling that this was more for Brooke than for her.

xxx

After putting on numerous outfit combinations, Haley felt exhausted. Some of the things that she tried on Brooke wanted to see again…and again. She didn't know why she couldn't just wear something from her own closet, but Brooke insisted that they always shared clothes. Luckily, dolls aren't real people because they would feel just like Haley.

Haley plopped herself on Brooke's bed. She peered over to see what she was doing, since she hadn't even tried one thing on. Brooke was sitting at her computer; probably figuring out who else from school was planning to go to the club tonight. Then her eyes scanned around and found a bulletin board with pictures of Brooke with others. It was titled "What I Did On My Summer Vacation". Haley got up so she could get a closer look. The other people with her were boys. _She must have had one fun summer. _

"Hey Brooke, who are all of these guys?" She found herself asking.

Brooke didn't even take hr eyes away from her computer screen. "They're nothing special. Just some guys I met on my vacation. "

"What do your parents think about all of this?"

This time Brooke turned around. It wasn't that she didn't mind telling this to Haley, it was just that it was easier when Haley already knew everything that was going on with her. "They divorced and then they ran off to California together, leaving me stuck here alone. It's not so bad though. I still have their money. No love. Well, their praise of love is to give me money."

Haley couldn't believe how lonely Brooke actually was. She was always flirting with guys and shopping. She thought it was just something that Brooke did for fun. Maybe she really did it to make herself feel a little less lonely and getting back at her parents.

"It's something that we have in common. After your parents left, we spent a lot of time together. If anything, it brought our friendship closer. I'm so grateful for that, Hales."

At that moment Haley decided to quit talking about personal issues because she noticed that the topics upset Brooke. Brooke was really excited about going out tonight since she and Nathan were talking again. It wasn't always about Haley.

Brooke got up and walked over to the heap of clothes that covered her bed. "I don't want to be this way forever. I want to find a guy that doesn't just want me for my body or my social status. He needs to make me laugh, even if it's at some dumb mistake I make. He shouldn't have to buy me things to make me accept him. My parents could learn from that. It's my senior year and I haven't had a steady boyfriend or really anyone who deserved the title. I've never been someone's girlfriend."

Haley hoped that Brooke finds someone like she described because she deserved it. Brooke Davis has a vulnerable side and a worthy guy definitely wouldn't judge her on that. He would want to be the one that Brooke went to when life was too much for her.

"You'll find that guy. I know you will."

Brooke smiled as she felt the material of the clothing. She handed it over to Haley. "This is the one. I'm sure of it." She blinked away tears.

Haley got up and hugged Brooke as she took the outfit from her. She returned a soft smile. After pulling away, she walked into Brooke's bathroom again and closed the door behind her.

xxx

He was used to this scene because this was usually what he was around on weekend: partying teens. This time there was the exception of no alcohol for them so Brooke's fake ID plan wasn't going to work, especially since he found out who the bartender and owner of the new club, Tric.

As he continued to wait for Brooke and Haley, Nathan had already bumped into a few of his friends from the team. They had come as a group with a few girls from another school because they were already bored of the girls from their own school. Nathan also spotted Rachel with her followers. She was giving the guys a show with her dancing. He was surprised that she hadn't come up to him yet. He knew she was probably waiting for Brooke and Haley to arrive so she could stir up some trouble.

"Nathan!" He hears his voice over the music and crowd. When he acknowledged Brooke, she waved.

"I'm sorry that we got here late. Haley couldn't decide on what she wanted to wear after I told her how great she looked in her first outfit."

"I'm sure that's why." Nathan nodded. He was about to greet Haley when he felt his mouth dry up. His words stammered on his tongue.

Brooke noticed the goofy pause that Nathan made. She thought that she would help him find his words. "She looks hot, doesn't she?"

"Uh," he swallowed to coat his throat, "um yeah," he stuttered. Nathan never acted this way towards girls. He was always confident about it because he knew that girls were into him. They were the ones who could never talk to him.

Brooke let out a giggle and Haley smiled. Nathan wasn't the only one who was embarrassed. Haley cheeks were stained pink as soon as Nathan looked her way.

"I'm going to go to the lady's room and make sure my makeup hasn't smeared." She linked arms with Haley. "Let's go."

Nathan watched as Brooke dragged Haley through all of the people. He cursed at himself for not telling Brooke to go by herself, but it was probably better if she didn't go alone. He didn't know what kind of creeps were here tonight. What he did know was that he was going to get his time with Haley by the end of it.

xxx

"I can't believe that you dragged me here tonight." The curly blond said as she hid her face in shame.

"My mom requested that I be here to help her out and I thought it would be much better than sitting around in you room. Besides, when was the last time we had any real fun?" Lucas said as he rested against the bar.

"Well, I'd rather be in my room listening to the classics. Plus, we have fun doing those kinds of things. We aren't rebellious teens, Luke!"

Lucas sighed. There was no winning with her. He was getting tired and annoyed with the same routine of hanging out with Peyton. Girls wouldn't even talk to him because they knew that Peyton would make sarcastic comments about them. Sure, she was one of his best friends, but she wasn't helping him move forward with his life.

He took his attention away from her when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Hey, I'm sorry to bother you, but where are the bathrooms? I need to make sure I still look good." She smiled cheerfully at him. Her cheeks created the sweetest dimples.

"Um, there in the back." He pointed in the direction, his finger slightly shaking.

"Thanks, Handsome." She winked at him as she turned around.

"Hey, Lucas," Haley said as Brooke pulled her away.

"It's never going to happen between you and Brooke, you know. Well, I know." Peyton said as she lifted her head back up.

Lucas ignored her the best that he could. He wished that he had said more to her, but he was too stunned that Brooke was talking to him. Well, asking him where the bathroom was, but still he never thought she would talk to a loser like he was.

"I won't know until I try. I'll be back later or maybe you could find me when you're done living your bottled up life." Lucas said, more coldly than he planned to.

xxx

Haley joined Nathan after dancing with Brooke for a while. He was exactly where they had left him when they went to the bathroom an hour ago. He seemed focused on one spot in the room. Haley looked to see what was so intriguing to him. It was the spot where they were dancing.

"Are you going to stand there all night or are you going to have some fun?" Haley shouted. She didn't know if Nathan was able to hear her over all of the noise.

"This is fun." He took his eyes off Brooke.

"I know that's a lie. You should join us." Haley offered. "You party all the time and I bet that you don't look like a creepy boy who watches his cousin dance with other guys."

He shook his head. "I'm not being creepy. I'm just making sure that nobody crosses any boundaries."

"She'll be fine, Nathan."

He didn't budge or try to argue after that. His eyes went back to Brooke. Haley couldn't believe how protective he was of Brooke. This life was full of surprises everyday.

She was still tired from dancing so she chose to stay with Nathan. She was feeling more comfortable staying with him. While she danced she felt guys brush against her and she didn't feel right about any of it.

"You're really going to do this all night?"

He gave up. After all, he did want time with Haley with no one else to bother them. The room of people didn't need to be here, but it as something he just had to work with it "Alright, let's find somewhere to sit and we can talk. If anything happens to Brooke when we're gone, then I'll be happy to blame you and let you take care of it."

Haley took his hand and he pulled her closer to him like he was protecting her. She brushed the feeling to move even closer to his body. When she had first arrived and Nathan was speechless, Haley had told Brooke, in the restroom, that she's never seen Nathan jumble his words. What she didn't tell Brooke was that she actually liked the affect she had on him. Haley was used to going unnoticed for her appearance because it wasn't what would be known as eye-catching. A guy giving her attention was something she never thought would make her happy. That was a secret she would never tell.

He found a place for them to sit where it was a bit quieter. "You really do look…you know, hot." He tried to say, but he felt uneasy. "I don't know if I can say that because we're just friends."

"I'll let it slide this time." Haley joked.

"So, what are your plans for the weekend? I bet Brooke has a list written out for things to do."

Haley chuckled. "After tonight all I can think about is sleep. Are you sure that I like doing this kind of stuff? Because it's tiring me out."

Nathan nodded. "The two of you love getting ready for parties and dragging me along with you. Yeah, I like to party, but not with a bunch of girls."

"Thanks, we appreciate it."

Easy. That's how it was starting to feel. Now, they were swapping remarks like they've been friends for years. It changed so fast between them and she hoped that it would slow down again.

"What's next?"

"Hmm?"

"You seem to know nights like these pretty well. What happens next?"

"Brooke complains that I don't dance enough and then I tell her because I suck at it and then she pushes me until I agree with her. She's more like an annoying little sister than a cousin. I imagine cousins living far away and I only have to see them on the holidays. Instead, I get Brooke."

Haley laughed again.

"You're laughing and smiling more. I like that."

"It just so happens that you're funny. By the way, that's something I would never thought I would say about you."

"I'm really that bad?"

"It's horrifying. I'm sorry." She looked down and shook her head. There was no way she was going to tell Nathan how much of an ass she thought he was. This would kill all of their progress.

"I know that you don't want to tell me, but you're not around that guy now."

She let out a long sigh. "We're both going to regret this. I'll make a deal with you. I'll tell you about the Nathan Scott I know and all you have to do is never ask me about him again. Deal?"

"That's a pretty easy bargain. I'm prepared to hear about how wonderful I am." He leaned back in his chair. "Shower me with praise."

"That," she pointed her finger firmly at him, "is exactly why you're consider an ass. The world should not have to bow down to you just because you think that you're God. All you do is think of yourself and basketball, Sure, you're extremely talented at the stupid game, but so are the other teammates. Girls should be falling at their feet and not yours because they're actually gentlemen, minus Tim. All of that just adds to you're cockiness and your huge ego!" Haley breathed after she was done talking. It actually felt quite relieve to tell Nathan how much she couldn't stand him. She noticed that she was now sitting closer to him and wondered what was going through his head.

"I used to be all of those things. I admit it was the prime of my lifetime but then…"

"We started dating. I know. I've been told that by Brooke countless time. I 'saved your life', as some would say. I can't believe I'm actually having this conversation with you. It's kind of weird."

"It feels good to get that all out though. I have just one more question about your reality, even though I still think that it's all in your head."

"Nathan…"

He was looking at her differently than before. When he was asking about his self, his eyes held a humorous interest. Now he was looking at her with a strong sense of wonder. It was actually making her feel uncomfortable. She had already spilled so much, much more than she planned on letting him know.

"What about you?"

That was what she was afraid of.

"You already know. I'm not any of this." She said as she looked around the room. She stood up when she felt him move closer to her. Her guard was down for too long.

"Haley, it's fine. I don't want to push you. I t was just…just." He sighed in defeat. "It was just something that I wanted to know. I mean if you're willing to be friends with me now, I guess I should just respect that. I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry."

"There you two are. I was wondering why you were hiding from me." Brooke said. "I got invited to go to a real bar, so I just came to say goodnight. Nate, you won't have a problem taking Haley home?"

Nathan shook his head. "No problem, just be careful."

"Was I interrupting something?" She asked, noting how Haley was standing in proximity to Nathan, who was still seated.

Haley shook her head. "We were just talking."

She nodded before clapping her hands together. "You two should dance together before they close this place up for the night! The DJ's only going to play a few more. Don't waste this night of fun just because you'll be missing me."

Haley looked back to Nathan and shrugged. "I guess I feel up to dancing again. Hopefully, they won't play a bunch a fast ones in a row again."

"It's a club, Hales. Anyway, I've got to go." She gave Haley a hug and then Nathan before leaving.

"Well, let's go. I don't think she's actually really going to leave unless she sees us dancing together." Nathan offered.

"Yeah," she muttered. Just like dancing, it was like two steps forward and then three steps back between them.

On the dance floor Nathan gave Haley a twirl so she faced him. as much as he'd rather have her by the hips, he knew he had to play it safe. She was his friend now; not his girlfriend.

Haley needed to just have fun and not think about the awkwardness that she now felt. The music needed to take her away until she had to come back down to earth and be a real person again.

…..

**Please review! I hope to be back soon and I also hope that you enjoyed this chapter!**


	10. The Truth

**AN: **I'm back! Thanks for all of your reviews and support. It really means a lot to me. Our vacation was amazing. School starts up pretty soon but I really wanted to give you guys another chapter because I don't know how often I'll be updating. There will be at least one or two more that I can promise by the time this month ends!

_I want the truth from you_

_Give me the truth, even if it hurts me_

_I want the truth_

"The Truth" –Good Charlotte

"Did you have fun tonight?" Nathan asked as he pulled into Haley's driveway. He put his car into park and waited for her to speak. After dancing, Nathan decided that he should probably take Haley home. Usually, after parties, the two would continue acting reckless until the early hours of the morning. Guessing from her hesitation lately, he wasn't going to suggest it.

Haley nodded. She still was trying to relax from being so close to Nathan on the dance floor. It wasn't a bad feeling. It was just a new feeling.

"That's good. I'm glad you did." Small talk wasn't something that Nathan was very good at. Of course, it felt awkward but he couldn't be himself with Haley at the moment. He wouldn't tell anybody that he felt like he was stuck.

"It wasn't what I would call a usual Friday night, but I felt good to get out. Brooke really knows how to keep having fun."

"Scary, isn't it?"

"What about you?"

He was surprised to hear her chuckle. He smiled. "What's so funny?"

She shook her head. "We're trying way too hard at trying to be friends. I'm pretty sure that's not how friendship works."

"Well, I've never had to be friends with you before. We never really started to get to know each other until we started dating. It's all backwards, but it worked for us." He, too, let out a small chuckle.

"Yeah, you seem to know me better than I know myself, as cliché as that sounds." Haley said softly. The previous laughter had seized in quietness.

Nathan didn't respond. He couldn't stand seeing Haley so confused about herself. If he could, he would send her back to the place she spoke so fond of. It was the place that she was comfortable in, where they would never consider each other. Nathan could tell that she was trying, but she shouldn't have to.

"So, I guess I should head inside." She broke the tension between them.

Nathan nodded. "Hey, if Brooke calls you, let me know? I can't stand when she goes out with people she randomly meets."

She looked into his eyes and they held sincerity. As she got out of the car, she stopped and looked back to him, "You're a great guy, Nathan. I wish that you existed in my world."

Again, there was no response. Nathan took Haley's words to heart. Brooke wasn't just his cousin. She was more like his sister. She seemed like the only family he truly had, besides Haley. There were no decent guys in Brooke's life to protect her. He pretty much didn't trust guys with her and her with guys. None seemed to care about her as much as they wanted to see her with her clothes off. Nathan had no problem taking the role of the protective brother, even if Brooke didn't like it.

Seeing his headlights disappear, Haley walked away from her door window. She went upstairs to her room to change out of Brooke's clothes. She threw on a pair of sweats and an old shirt. She sat up on her bed and let the entire day replay in her head.

She realized that it was so easy to be friends with Brooke. It was one of the things that actually felt natural. Why couldn't it be that way with Nathan? Sure, there were different circumstances, but it was close to the same situation. They both knew her. She went with Brooke much easier than Nathan. Sometimes she wanted to smack herself in order to stop herself from thinking so much.

She meant what she said to Nathan. Otherwise, she wouldn't have said it. Actually, she wished that she kept it as a thought because it felt dangerous to say. They just started being friends and she didn't want what she told him to confuse him. All that mattered was that it was the truth.

Haley looked over to her phone. How long was it going to take for Brooke to let her know that she was back from the bar? She worriedly looked up at her ceiling. Maybe if she stared, then her eyes would bore themselves to sleep.

Was Nathan doing the same thing that she was right now? Waiting for a sign that everything was all right?

xxx

Brooke woke up and groaned. She was exhausted after barely getting any sleep. She had gotten home pretty late and she didn't crash from her party mode until an hour after. She turned in her bed and smiled at the sight. Last night definitely didn't go the way she thought it would. She never imagined that she would wake up this way.

There was a noise ringing in her ears. She brushed it of because she guessed that it was just from the blaring music from the night before. Apparently, she was wrong. She reached over and grabbed her phone. Brooke squinted when she saw that she had a few messages from both Nathan and Haley.

She took one last look at the sleeping body next to her. In order not to wake him, she slowly slipped out of bed and went downstairs to call her cousin.

"_It took you long enough to answer your phone."_ Nathan sounded agitated mixed with a bit of tiredness.

"Sorry, I must have slept through the ringing. What's up?" She rubbed her eyes.

"_I was waiting to hear from you all night. Did you get home okay?"_

Brooke let out a sigh. "I'm sorry that I kept you up, even though you always stay up late."

"_Whatever, it's fine. You well enough to catch breakfast with Haley and me? Speaking of Haley, you should call her, too. She'll be thrilled to know that you're alive."_

Brooke lets out a laugh. "I will and just so you know, Nate, I don't need you and Haley to worry about me. I'm strong enough to take care of myself. Please, stop acting like you're my dad."

"_I can't help it. So how did your night go with your new friends?"_

Brooke rested her elbows on the counter. "It was fine. We got a few drinks and talked. It was nothing major. It was a nice change actually…

"_You looked like you were trying to have fun tonight." She bit the straw that was between her lips as she focused on his facial features. She tried to tilt her head upside down. "Do you ever smile?" _

_He sipped at his beer. Right now, he was looking for some liquid confidence. He wondered if she could tell and he continued drinking._

_Brooke rolled her eyes and grabbed his glass. "Don't try and impress me with your drinking skills. It's not going to get you anywhere with me."_

_She got off the barstool and wrapped her arms around his neck. "So why did you invite me here?"_

_His throat felt dry. "I thought you'd might like to get out of there." At the club he noticed that the girls had someone there who was watching them like a hawk scavenging for pray._

_She shrugged. "I was having a great time. I had no idea how great you were on the dance floor."_

_He chuckled. "You're making it sound like I never enjoy myself."_

"_I didn't say that. It's just at school you look like you're dreading your life. Being a brooder isn't what I would call fun. That's what you need in your life." She uncoiled her arms from his neck and backed away. _

_She was right. He wanted nothing more than to get his life back to where he could laugh again. It was just hard now because he chose to be around someone who'd rather act bitter and not try to change that._

"_If anyone knows how to have a good time, then I guess that would be you."_

"_Got that right. Since I'm helping you better your life, then you have to do something for me."_

_He gulped and shakily answered, "Name it."_

_She smiled at him sweetly. "You don't have to be so nervous, Lucas."_

"Anyway, I'll give Haley a call. I'm probably not going to be able to meet you guys for breakfast. I need some more sleep." Brooke also wanted Haley and Nathan going to breakfast alone so they could be together. She hung up on Nathan and then chose Haley's number.

"_Hey, I was waiting all night for you. I had a great time. Thanks, Brooke."_

"I'm glad to be of help. How'd the rest of your night with Nathan go?"

Brooke listened as Haley told her that her and Nathan danced for the last songs. Brooke was a bit bummed because she wanted there to be a slow song so the two had no choice but to dance together. She was glad that Haley was able to have a good time with Nathan without having to worry about anything. Brooke had a feeling that Haley was going to get over that feeling.

"That sounds great, Hales. Listen, I'm still drained from last night so I won't be able to meet you and Nate for breakfast. You should still go though."

"_Brooke…. I don't know." Haley sighed into the speaker._

"Hey, none of that! I know that you don't want me hanging around the two of you all the time. You may think that I'm oblivious, but it's all an act, buddy."

After getting Haley to agree Brooke turned her phone off. She didn't want any more interruptions. She headed back upstairs to find her visitor awake.

"Sleep well?" She asked as she leaned on her doorframe. She held in her laugh at his wild hair.

He never thought that he would wake up in the place he always wanted to be. Last night definitely turned out better than it had started out to be. Finding his nerve to stop being in the background felt new. Brooke Davis kept her word and showed him a great time. Sure, it wasn't anything too crazy or mature, but she make him feel free from the hold he had put himself in. Now, holding up the end of the bargain was going to be difficult.

"Yeah, thanks for letting me crash here." He said looking down.

"It was no big deal. I don't think you're mom is going to be very happy with me when she finds out what I did to her son." She walked over and sat next to him. She rolled up the sleeve of his shirt. "How does it feel?"

"It just itches." Now his eyes drifted to the symbol that would remain on his skin forever. "I don't know how you talked me into this."

"I have a way with words."

"What about you? From what I can remember, you told me I'd get to see yours."

"Oh, well here's the thing; I don't just whip out my tattoo and show everybody. You have to earn it. I'd like people to think that I have respect for myself."

"I never questioned that."

She knew that. Lucas Roe was not like any of the guys in Tree Hill. He had been nothing but genuine towards her and not to the point where he tried and get her to sleep with him. Many have attempted to play Brooke. That's not the kind of guy that she was looking for. Unfortunately, her social life, involving boys, was a huge contradiction. Her little summer vacation display haunted her for that. She came off as flirty. It was just her personality. Hopefully, her 'right guy' could see past all of that.

"Anyway, you have a deal to uphold. I know that it isn't something you're thrilled about doing. It needs to happen."

He nodded. "I think it's a great thing, but it's been near impossible. You're a good friend to her, Brooke. I'm glad she has someone like you."

"Thanks. I hope she'll have more than just me and Nathan in her life." She cleared her throat, "Do you have any idea how you're going to get her to listen?"

Lucas shook his head. "Not with that long stick that seems to be stuck up her ass."

Brooke laughed, "So I've noticed."

"To be honest with you, I have no idea why I stick around with the Peyton Sawyer pity party. I mean, at first, she really needed me. Now, it's been dragged out for far too long. Last night was the first time I felt like I had a normal day. Thanks again, Brooke."

"We all need to have those kinds of days."

xxx

Brooke was right. Haley did want to spend time with Nathan. Times like this and not ones like the previous night. It wasn't that she despised dancing with Nathan. She was just mix of emotions all the time. Hopefully, if not already, she would see Nathan for the good guy that he was.

Breakfast had gone by pretty quickly. Nathan decided to take her to Karen's Café. She had missed when she would spend all her time there with her and Lucas. As they walked in, she was a bit nervous to see Karen because of the falling out she apparently had with Lucas. Luckily, Karen wasn't her waitress, so she never had the chance to find out if Karen was angry with her.

"You okay? You haven't really said much." Nathan spoke.

"Yeah, just a little dazed from last night." She lied.

He nodded in agreement. She was a terrible, but cute liar. First, she would take in a breath to ready herself for it. Then after she would tell the lie, she would bite her lip. She would get nervous afterwards and nibble her lower lip. Nathan's eyes would watch as her pink lip was brushed against her white teeth. He missed the ability to taster her lips for himself. _Keep it together, Scott. _

"What are your plans for today?" Haley asked as she moved her scrambled eggs around her plate.

"Well, my dad wasn't too happy that I spent my Friday night at the club. He would prefer if I stayed after practice to hit the weight room. So, I'll be having a session with him instead."

When Nathan had returned from Haley's his father had been waiting for him. Of course, Nathan had to hear all about how partying athletes only celebrate their good fortune and Nathan wasn't quite there. Nathan had scoffed loudly and his father and told him that he had a lot going for him that made celebrating worthy. He didn't go into details. As always, Dan never looked pleased with Nathan.

"Ouch."

"Tell me about it. I'll be suffering this weekend and pissed off with him by Monday morning. You have fair warning." He half joked.

"You'll be out in no time. It's your senior year and I bet that all the scouts can't wait to have their eyes on you."

He smiled. That was the second time that Haley made him feel like he was doing everything right. She made it seem like his life wasn't such a wreck.

"Yeah, but my father already has my future college planned out. He wants me to pick Duke."

"Is that where you want to go?"

He shrugged, "sometimes."

"I'm sorry that you have to live with that monster."

"I have my distractions. I don't want to tall about my dad anymore. What are you doing today?"

"I have to go to Brooke's and drop off her clothes that she let me borrow. She told me just to keep them, but I don't know if I'll wear them again."

"Why not? I kind of liked how you looked in them." _Shoot._

Haley felt her body heat up at the comment. She shakily brushed it aside. She didn't like having guys ogle at her body. Not that many did, but some guys had pretty rude thoughts when it came to a female's body.

"I'm sorry I said that."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not your boyfriend anymore. It's still hard not being able to say these kinds of things to you."

"I feel like that's my fault. I've turned your world around and it's not fair to you."

"You're right, it's not." He leaned back in his chair and rested his hands on his head. His bicep muscles took their strong shape, "I'm just going to have to get you back, James. You'll see."

"Oh, I'm just shaking with anticipation." She said sarcastically. Then she laughed as Nathan sat upright again and smirked at her.

"Well, you should be."

xxx

Lucas stuffed his hands in his pockets as he entered Peyton's room. He had just left Brooke's house and decided that he couldn't let her or Haley down. He never wanted to be the one to fix things between the two. His involvement felt involuntary. Just because he wanted to comfort Peyton and because he hated Nathan didn't mean that he wanted to shut Haley out. What set Lucas off to let Haley out of his life was the fact that she never tried to apologize or even reconcile. She was too busy enjoying her new life with Nathan and his world.

"Where did you go off to last night?" Peyton turned in her computer chair. "You just left me there without saying a word. What the hell was that about?"

"Sorry, I just wanted to have a little fun."

"Oh yeah?" She got up and walked over to Lucas and pulled up his sleeve. "Not that I don't like art, but you would never do something like this. You do know it's permanent, right?"

"I'm not stupid." He pushed Peyton's hand away.

"Let me guess. You're disappearance and new branding was all in the works of Brooke Davis? Luke, I don't understand how you could like a girl like her. She's the one who changed Haley into a completely ignorant person."

"Just shut up, Peyton! I'm really sick of all your bitching! I didn't come here to have you shout at me about my own choices. Haley's a good person. Brooke's a good person but you'll never have the chance to see that because you're blinded by your depressed feelings. I've had enough of this."

Peyton was taken back by Lucas' outburst. He was never one to yell. He usually kept his anger held back. She wanted to tell him to leave and not come back, but he was the last person left for her to push away.

"Then why are you here? Is it just so you could yell at me?"

"No. I came here to tell you that I think it's time for you to get over what Haley did. You need to talk to her."

"I don't want to do that."

"From what I've seen is that she's trying to make an effort with you. I thought that was what you wanted?"

"What I wanted was for my best friend to be there when I needed her to be. Instead she was off with her boyfriend, while I sat here," she pointed to her bed, "and cried because I felt so alone and disrespected. She didn't call me once and you know that. You know how much that hurt me."

"You didn't do anything either, Peyton. You can't just expect Haley to know what's wrong. I really think it's time you told her the truth."

"And if I don't?"

"Then the only person who you really should be angry with is yourself. You made yourself lonely." With that, Lucas left Peyton to sit in her misfortune.

_So this is you_

_You're talking to me_

**So there wasn't too much Naley. Think of this chapter as a Part 1 kind of deal. **

**Please review and if you're interested I posted a Brooke/Lucas/Clay story title "Come Alive Tonight" I'm posting again soon! **


	11. The Truth, Part 2

_I know that this will break me_

_I know that this might make me cry_

_You gotta say what's on your mind, on your mind_

_I know that this will hurt me_

_and break my heart and soul inside_

_I don't wanna live this lie_

"The Truth"-Good Charlotte

"So, how did it go with Haley this morning?" Brooke asked Nathan. She had decided to wait a bit, after Lucas had left, before visiting Nathan.

Nathan looked over to her. "You didn't want to go and you expect me to you just tell you everything?" He shook his head, "It doesn't work that way, Brooke. Unless, you had a good reason not to show up?"

Brooke fought the feeling of biting on her lip, which she swore she got the habit from Haley. The only reason why she didn't want to tell Nathan about Lucas was because she wanted to protect both of them. Nathan was more like her protective brother, than he was her cousin. Plus, there was all this tension between Nathan and Lucas that she didn't want to make it worse. If she told Nathan, then he was going to be ballistic, which would only mean trouble for Lucas. As far as Brooke knew, Lucas Roe never woke up beside her this morning.

"You know me, Nate. I tend to over indulge in my drinking." She didn't even have to lie.

Nathan gave her a knowing look. "Can you even remember last night?"

She swatted at his chest. She glared at him while a smirk grew on his features. "Believe it or not, last night was the first night that I actually want to remember what happened."

"Really?"

Brooke nodded.

"Who's the guy, Brooke?" Nathan asked with annoyance. "Don't," he warned, as Brooke was about to deny that there was anybody who made her night more memorable.

"It wasn't like that, I swear. I just meant that I liked that I was starting to see Haley really enjoying herself. I think there could be hope for her and she'll forget all about what she thinks is real and what's a not."

He shook his head again, "I don't think so. We both know that once Haley has something going on in her head that there is no changing her mind. Maybe we need to let it go as much as we want her to let it go, you know?"

Before Brooke could truly answer, she looked over to the door.

Nathan noticed that something else had caught her attention. He, too, turned his head to the door. He really didn't know how to react because he was used to feeling more weighted whenever he was in the same room as him. it was even worse because he was expecting to see his father today and he knew that nothing good was going to be in store for him.

"I'm surprised to see you here, son." Dan looked over to his brunette niece, "I haven't seen you in a long time either, Brooklyn. How are you?"

"Fine," she gritted out.

Dan smiled. "It was good to see you. If you don't mind, Nathan has important things to do today. So after you two talk, I'd like it if you left him alone. He has a game to focus on." Dan picked up his briefcase and walked into his study.

"I never thought I could hate a member of my own family," Brooke said as she sat next to Nathan. "I'm not here to talk about Dan. I only came by to bug you."

"I always look forward to this," he sighed. "What is it this time?"

"Have you figured out how you're going to ask Haley to prom? You're running really low on time. If you need my help, I have no problem giving it to you."

Prom was the furthest thing from Nathan's mind. Right now, he was trying to get comfortable with the fact that he and Haley were trying to be friends. He wished that he had asked her before she came from some alternate universe because there never felt like a good time to ask Haley. Asking her would probably be awkward. Nathan wasn't even sure if she would even say yes.

"Well, you should ask her before someone else asks you, like Rachel." _What a nightmare that would be?_ "You do want to go with Haley, right?"

"Of course I do. I wouldn't go with anyone else. You know that. I've just been having a ton of stress. Once this week is over and we win the game, then I'll ask her, okay?"

Brooke gave him a satisfied nod.

"Time's up. It's always nice to have family stop by." Dan said when he reappeared from his study.

"I did only stop by. I thought I'd head over to Haley's because she called." Brooke walked over and gave Nathan a quick hug. "You should do that same after this," she whispered in his ear. Brooke tried her best not to make contact with her uncle as she slid past him in the doorway.

He wasn't much of a family-loving uncle. Brooke's mother was Dan's sister. Unlike the Scott family, the Davis family didn't obsess over a game of basketball. Brooke's father would rather have a chat about a business deal than who scored the most points in a basketball game. Dan believed that the game was a strong value in life. Victoria, Brooke's mother, secretly hated hearing about basketball all the time. She'd rather spend her time spending money. Mr. Davis was a successful businessman, which meant Victoria was going to have a lot of money to spend. Dan never really saw eye to eye with him. Dan Scott never had a problem being someone's enemy. Actually, he seemed to enjoy it.

"Brooke, I noticed a few expensive charges sent to one of my credit cards. Do you know anything about that?" Dan asked, over his shoulder.

"I guess I'm just like my mother," Brooke muttered, "try not to push Nathan to his breaking point. Haley would like him in one piece." Brooke closed the door behind her, sighing in relief that she didn't have to be around him for much longer.

Nathan nodded at the mention of her name. Luckily, he still had Haley, even though they were only friends. Whenever Dan got to be too much, Haley had a way of calming him. He didn't know how she always did it or why she even had the patience to do so.

"All right, let's discuss more important things. I've been to prom and it's nothing special, even though I won king. With that being said, I'm stating to notice that your focus has shifted. I know what it's like to be a teenager. You want to go out and have a fun, but that's not what you should be doing,"

"Dad…"

"This next game is pretty big. That's why we need to get you in your best shape. I'm done being lineate with you, Nathan. So, you're going to have to cut things with your little girlfriend short because the game will stay with you longer than some girl you dated in high school."

It started earlier than Nathan thought it would. All his father had to do was talk bad about Haley. He knew nothing about her because Nathan didn't need Dan knowing about his social life. Plus, if there were one person that he could just keep Haley from, it would be his own father.

"At least Haley cares about me."

"You might think that I don't care, but I really do. Every time I push you, I'm pushing you to be the greatest that you can be. I don't think that she's capable to help you see that you are almost the best player that this high school team."

"Almost?" he asked with disgust.

"Yeah, almost. No matter how much I help you, there's no way that you'll ever be better than your old man. I know the secrets, but I'm not going to give them all to you just because you're my son. The Scott legacy all started with my father and he made me do everything on my own. That's how I beat him."

"So your idea of helping me is by holding me back? Well, thanks, you're the best." This time Nathan chose to walk away. He couldn't believe that his father had no regret whenever he talked. Than again, every time they did talk, it always came down to the fact that Dan was better than he was and that Nathan was never going to be as great as him. There were already parts of Nathan that were better than Dan. Nathan had a good heart and right now all he wanted was it to be mended.

xxx

Haley sat outside on her large porch as she waited for Brooke to stop by. She had called the brunette after lunch, but she hadn't picked up. She actually didn't even know if Brooke was even going to show up. It wasn't like Brooke.

Her fingers played with the fabric of the clothes, which were folded on her lap. The silly top slid gracefully between her fingers. She had no idea why Brooke would let her wear such a nice piece of clothing. Maybe what Brooke said was right; that's what friends do.

"What's got you so down, James?"

Haley looked up to see Brooke coming up the front stairs. "I didn't even hear you pull up." She placed the close on the small table beside her. Then Haley stood and gave Brooke a quick hug.

"I'm sneaky, Hales. What's up?" Brooke sat down on the railing. Her boots swung as she balanced herself on the peeling paint of the wooden rails.

Haley picked up the clothes, "These are yours," she handed them to her.

Brooke pushed them away. "You keep 'em. You'll never know when you'll need those again. Plus, I can't believe that I'm saying this, but you looked much hotter than me in them then I could ever pull off."

"Um, thanks." She placed them back on her lap. "I missed you at breakfast today, fun night?"

"Aw thanks. Yeah, not that you and Nathan aren't fun, but I liked the change." Brooke smiled while thinking back to her night with Lucas.

_Lucas. _Brooke wondered if he had done what she asked him to. So far, it didn't seem like he did and she couldn't make sure yet because it could end up ruining something that was meant to be fixed.

"_You don't have to be so nervous, Lucas. It's not like I'm asking you to do anything dangerous. Well, it might be dangerous considering that it involves a curly haired devil." Brooke chuckled from her realization and because she was a tad drunk, "and her name rhymes with another word for devil. Irony? I think so." _

"_Peyton?"_

_Brooke nodded excitedly. "I know, its crazy. It's actually for a good reason. You are obviously aware of the thing between her and my best friend. Well, I was thinking," her arms snaked around his neck again, "that you could convince Peyton to just talk to Haley."_

_Lucas looked down into her hazel eyes; "I don't think Peyton's going to go for that. She's not really one to share her feelings and I've never seen her so angry towards another person before. Especially one who used to be her best friend."_

"_And now she's mine. Peyton can't have her back." She smiled. Then she frowned when she noticed that Lucas wasn't. "Lighten up, I was kidding. See, I will get you to be sore from smiling by the end of the night."_

"_Why do you want this?"_

"_I want Haley to be happier. I always thought she was whenever she was with me or when she was with Nathan. Something's been off with her lately and from the little run in we had at the store, I just know that it involves you two. I have no clue how someone could be so hateful towards Haley. What did she do?"_

_Lucas bent his head down and shook his head, "I can't tell you, Brooke."_

_She nodded. "Can you help Haley figure it out? You want her to be happy, too? I know that you all used to be friends."_

"_I don't know if she'll go for it."_

"_That's another thing." Brooke commented as she took her hands away from Lucas' neck and began walking away._

_Lucas followed behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. In response, Brooke faced him. "And what's that?"_

"_To stop doubting yourself. Can I ask you one more thing?" Brooke waited for him to nod. "Do you ever doubt that I wouldn't notice you? Because I do notice, Luke. If you just take chances and forget about the possible result, then I think you could be really happy."_

_Lucas searched her eyes. Brooke Davis truly was a remarkable girl. She was always surprising him. This time he wanted to be the one to surprise her. With that, he let the doubt fall away and he covered her lips with his._

"What are you thinking about, Brooke?" Haley noticed that Brooke was smiling.

"It wasn't anything important." Brooke slid off the railing. "I'm actually going to head back home."

Haley nodded. "Okay, thanks again for the clothes."

"It's no big deal." Brooke made it down a step, before she turned back to Haley. "I'm here for you, Hales. No matter what you do or what you've done, we'll always be best friends." She winked and left. She honked her horn and waved as she drove past her house.

Haley waved back and smiled. Some thing was going on with Brooke and Haley couldn't figure out what it could be. Brooke looked like she was full of bliss.

xxx

She heard a screech and looked up to see the familiar car. This time, it wasn't the small car that belonged to Brooke Davis. Haley wouldn't be so surprised or confused to see Brooke pull up. The car that ended up in Haley's driveway was none other than Peyton's Comet.

Peyton wore her leather jacket and her curly hair blew in the breeze. Her soft features couldn't even hold a smile as she walked up the steps to Haley's porch. All she did was stare at Haley. Her eyes traveled to the clothes in her lap, which made her scoff.

Haley wondered why Peyton was now standing in front of her. All Peyton ever was to Haley was rude and sarcastic.

"Can I help you with something?" Haley asked defensively.

"Look, I'm only here so you stop bothering me about what happened. Lucas wouldn't stop pestering me about coming over to talk to you."

"Okay?"

"You really don't remember, do you?" She stuffed her hands in the pockets in her jacket.

"I really have no idea."

"My mom died." She said flatly.

Haley couldn't believe it. If she was Peyton's friend, how did she not know about her mother passing away? She was lost for words.

"She had cancer."

"Peyton, I'm…" Haley's voice cracked.

Peyton shook her head in frustration. "Don't, Haley, okay? You didn't seem to care then, so why care now?"

"What are you even talking about? You're my best friend and I would be there for you in a second. Nothing else would matter to me, except for you."

"That's what I thought, too. You were too busy with Nathan and your other new friends to even have the decency to call me and ask me how I was doing!" Peyton wiped at her eyes.

No. That sounded nothing like Haley. Her friends would always come before something silly, like a boy. "So what, when you told me, I just blew you off? That's a shady thing to do and I'm not that type of person."

"I didn't tell you. We were barely on speaking terms because we fought about how you would rather spend your time with Nathan than with your real friends. You got a boyfriend and you dropped us like flies! I spent days in my room, crying because I knew that the day my mom died was the day my best friend did, too."

Peyton wasn't going to let Haley apologize for something so heavy. Haley couldn't blame her for it. She still was in shock that she would even act that way. How was Haley going to salvage this?

Peyton shook her head vigorously; "Don't try to talk to me anymore. Just because we talked about what happened doesn't make us friends again. it doesn't change anything because I can never forgive you for shutting me out of your life."

Haley closed her eyes. She wanted to open them and be back in the Tree Hill that she knew. The one where she didn't cause anyone pain and Peyton still had her mom. When she opened them again, her tears blinded her eyes and she heard the loud music from Peyton's car become softer.

She continued to cry. She had guessed that she had something to make Peyton despise her, but she didn't know it was one of the worst things possible.

xxx

There he was. Nathan was leaning against the side of his black Range Rover. He was wearing his grey sweatshirt and a pair of track pants. He didn't walk up to the door.

"Aren't I popular today." Haley muttered to herself as she walked away from the window. She quickly threw on a hooded sweatshirt before meeting Nathan outside.

She wiped her tears on her sleeve.

"Are you okay?" Nathan quickly stopped leaning on his car and wrapped his strong arms around Haley. He had no clue what had her in tears, but it was something that he never wanted to see Haley do again.

Haley felt her shaking cries come back. Unlike before, she didn't have Nathan's warm embrace to relax her. She pulled her head away from his chest. She tried to wipe her mascara stains off of his clothes.

"Haley?" He looked down at the small girl in his arms. Her beautiful doe eyes were red from all the crying that she had done. How long had she been like this and who had caused this?

"I'm a horrible person." She got out between gasps for air.

Nathan rubbed her back. "No you're not." He brought his lips to her forehead. Then he pulled her to his chest again.

Haley pushed back. "Yes, I am, Nathan."

He took one hand and brushed away her tears on his sleeve. He wished that he didn't think her bright red nose was cute at a time like this. To try and forget about his attraction to her, he looked down at their feet. He couldn't help but notice that she was wearing a pair of shorts. The nightly weather, in Tree Hill, wasn't too warm.

"Let's get you back inside, all right?" He still had one arm around Haley as he led her up the steps.

Haley stopped and turned to Nathan. "What are you being like this?"

"Like what?"

She shook her head. The Nathan Scott that she was looking at held a very concerned look on his face. It wasn't an expression that she had ever seen on the boy. It was actually really comforting. "Never mind."

Nathan opened the screen door for her and followed her inside. As soon as he saw Haley crying, all the bullshit that he want through that afternoon, with his father, ceased to exist. The only thing that truly did was his love for his broken girl.

**The scene between Haley and Peyton didn't quite work out like how I originally imagined it to. It does seem vague, but there's more to come out of that drama in further chapters!**

**Please Review!**


	12. Carolina Heat

_They say the Carolina heat_

_Isn't something that keeping a cool head can beat_

_but don't discount their winter winds_

_and all the cold shoulders that the slightest draft lets in_

_but with empty stomachs and hungry eyes_

_our only choice was to swallow pride_

"Carolina Heat"-You, Me, and Everyone We Know

Haley stirred in her bed as her restless night continued. She had been completely exhausted from all her crying, which brought her trying to control her breathing. When she would finally turn her gasps into even, but still strong, breaths, Peyton's words would reel in her head and she would start crying again. It was too much for her to process. There was no way that Haley could miss signs of her friends going through stressful and devastating events. She wouldn't do that just to be with a guy. Haley James was not selfish. There just had to be more to the story than what Peyton had told her.

Like a few times before, she felt a hand put pressure on her back as it traveled up and down. It was soothing and she didn't want that feeling to go away. She looked up to the person that she was curled up against. This time, when she saw Nathan's face, she didn't freak out. She preferred to have him there because she couldn't be alone. Just like Peyton didn't want to be alone when her mother died.

She could tell that she was his main focus. His energy was definitely drained from his features. Nathan didn't have to stay with her, but she couldn't bring herself to tell him to go. At this point, she didn't know if she could even speak. Haley kept breaking down in front of Nathan Scott and he never once asked her why.

He came for a reason. There was no doubting that because she was told that they wouldn't see each other until in Monday. She was pretty sure that they were in the first few hours of Sunday.

With a deeper breath she asked him how things went with Dan. He warned her that he wasn't going to be in a good mood. She also asked him because she didn't want to here him ask her about her sorrows.

"It was just the usual," he answered while his hand stayed with the same motion on her back.

Nathan started to feel uncomfortable around Haley. As the night kept going, he thought that he would feel calmer because Haley was letting him be close with her. He didn't think of it as a pass or anything, but he didn't want to break the boundaries of being just friends with Haley.

Haley felt the bed shift and then the weight of it become lighter. She sat up and looked to the doorway, where Nathan was headed. "Are you leaving? I didn't mean to upset you, if that's what I did."

He shook his head. He turned back to her. Even in the dark, he could see Haley's tear stained cheeks. "You should get some rest," he told her softly. "I'll let Brooke know to check on you later in the day."

"Are you going back to your house? Nathan, you can stay here. I probably won't be able to get any sleep anyway."

Nathan shook his head again. If only she knew how badly he wanted to stay. He just couldn't out of respect for her. "I was just going to crash at Brooke's. You're going to be okay, Haley."

She sniffled, "I don't think I am." She whispered to herself as she watched him leave.

It took Haley some time before she forced herself to get out of her bed. She didn't even want to look at herself in the mirror. That wasn't just because she knew that she was going to look puffy from crying. After yesterday's shocking news, Haley could truly say that she didn't know why she was here or even who that person really was.

She didn't want to believe Peyton. Sure, there are times when your friends let you down, but not to the extent that she had done. There had to be much more. Peyton didn't want to talk to her, but they should have talked about it in more detail. It was just sprung on her and she barely had time to receive it all in full. If Peyton had stayed, then Haley could have asked questions about herself. She could tell Peyton about her mixed up life. Peyton probably wasn't going to believe her. That was the only way that Haley was going to understand everything.

If she fixed her friendships with both Peyton and Lucas, then where would that leave Nathan and Brooke? They were the only ones who have been there for her, even if the didn't believe her. Haley was having some the best times of her life whenever she was with Brooke. Brooke brought out the Haley that was more outgoing. At first she hesitated at anything that Brooke would suggest. She was still not one hundred percent comfortable, but she was well on her way. Haley also was a good support for Brooke. Brooke Davis seemed like she had her life together, but that wasn't the case. She told Haley things that Haley would never have guessed about her and she didn't judge Brooke on any of it. Then there was the boy who she judged everyday. Here, Nathan was the complete opposite. She could tell he was really trying with her, even though he knew that he probably didn't have to. He didn't have to stay with her all night, but he did. One day she was going to wake up and be in the place that was real. There was no being best friends and a cheerleader with Brooke. There was no having Nathan Scott being a decent and loving boy. She wasn't allowed the best of both.

xxx

Brooke jumped with a startle at the sound of her front door opening. There was no way that her parents were going to be the one's walking through the door. If they did, they would both be drunk off their asses. She lifted the covers off her body and looked over to Lucas, who was sleeping soundlessly. _Great, if this is a real intruder, then he's useless. _

She slowly made her way to her bedroom door. Then she took a confident breath in and released it once she started walking down her steps. As she made her way down, she thought of moves that she learned in cheer camp, in case she needed to use any to keep herself alive. Once on the main level, she could see a tall figure in the next room. It seemed to be throwing pillows off of her couch. Brooke bit her lip as she made the decision to confront her couch thief.

He was taller than she thought. "Hey!" she shouted to get his attention. When he turned to face her she reacted by punching him in the gut and then she kicked him hard in the groin.

"Damn it, Brooke!" the figure slid to the floor, holding himself where he was knocked out.

Brooke ran over to turn a light on. When she saw her cousin groaning in pain, she placed her hand over her mouth. She didn't know whether to be surprised or to laugh that she was able to take Nathan down.

"Nathan, I'm so sorry." She rushed over to him and sat next to him on the floor. "Are you okay?"

Nathan shook his head. "I don't know, you got me pretty good."

Brooke punched him hard in the arm.

"Ow! Why are you still beating on me?" Nathan asked while he rubbed his arm.

"That's for scaring me, you jackass. Now, tell me what you're doing in my house at this time?"

"I needed a place to crash. I guess I'll be sure to call you with a head's up next time. At least, I know that you can fend for yourself." He looked to over to her. He didn't know if now was the best time to tell Brooke that he just got back from hearing Haley cry for hours.

"What's wrong with sleeping in your own bed? I know my couch is comfortable and all, but really? Is it because your father is there? He'll be traveling again before you can blink. It's just for the weekends."

Nathan shook his head. "Not this time, Brooke. My training before game day is crucial this time. This is the only moment that I think I'll be able to catch my breath. No, thanks to you, now that's gone to." His anatomy was still throbbing in pain.

She rubbed his shoulder. "I really am sorry. Hey, just be lucky that I wasn't wearing one of my pairs of expensive shoes."

"Yeah, so can I crash here?"

Brooke nodded. "It's not a problem. I just have one more question." She held up her finger. "Why did you decide to come here so early in the, what is it now, the morning? Where were you really, Nathan?"

He let out a long sigh. "I just got back from Haley's"

"Haley's? There's no way that you spent the entire night with her. She wouldn't, unless you're back together? Oh my god! You are!" She gave Nathan a tight hug. "I told you things were going to get better for you two!"

Nathan pried Brooke off of him. "That's not it at all Brooke. It's actually more serious than that."

"What's going on, Nate?" She asked with concern. Her eyes searched his for the answer.

"When I got there I really needed to talk to her about what happened at home, but she came outside and it looked like she was crying pretty hard. So, I brought her back to her room. She stayed up the entire night crying. I don't know what's wrong with her, but I couldn't see her another minute that way."

Did that mean that Lucas got Peyton to talk to Haley? Brooke immediately thought to Lucas. She prayed that he didn't hear her shout or Nathan. She shook her head. Her main priority had to be Haley. Whatever Peyton's reason was, it had to be pretty heavy to get Haley crying for hours.

"Do you think that you could do something with her tomorrow to get her mind off of it? Or even talk to her about it? I would if I could, but I don't think that I'll be able to take it. Please?"

Brooke nodded. "Of course, I will. You should get some rest and maybe some ice." She stood up and looked down to her cousin. He was very worried about Haley. It broke her heart because she was the one who wanted to fix the bond between Lucas, Peyton and Haley. She knew more than Nathan did and that wasn't fair to him.

Broke wiped her tired and damp eyes. She hoped that she didn't do more damage than good.

When she closed her bedroom door she felt like breaking down, but she had to keep it together for Nathan, Haley and the newest person that she cared about. He happened to be awake and looking straight at her with the same blue concerned eyes that her cousin had.

Without a word, Brooke walked over to Lucas and lied down beside him. She felt his hand move the hair that had fallen in her face. A single tear rolled down her dimpled cheek.

"Peyton told Haley."

xxx

The next few hours passed by slowly for Nathan. He couldn't fall asleep. It wasn't that the couch wasn't large or comfortable enough. Each time that he closed his eyes, he could see Haley, alone, on her bed. Sometimes he swore that he could really hear her muffled cries like she was still next to him and in his arms.

He would try to move, but after being pulverized by his smaller female cousin, he decided that it was safer to never move again. Too bad, that wasn't an option. Working out with his father today was going to be a bitch. Dan was not going to be happy that Nathan was going to be sluggish or that he let Brooke wail on him. Nathan was better off not muttering a word about pain. He wondered what his dad was doing, since he probably found out, around 4:30 that morning, Nathan wasn't even there. He certainly wasn't going to get a cheerful homecoming.

"Are you ever going to get off my couch?" Brooke's face was now close to his. She smiled innocently at him.

"I'm immobile. Are you heading over to Haley's?"

She shook her head. "Not yet, I don't quite have a master plan. You need to leave, though." She walked out of the room, knowing that Nathan was going to get up and argue his case.

With a grunt, Nathan was able to get himself sitting upwards. He really hated Brooke right now. He wished that Brooke cock blocked him instead of kicking him.

Brooke's head appeared from around the corner, "Oh, don't be such a baby about it. It's not like you can't walk." She giggled.

"The next time the basketball's heading for the cheerleader's don't expect me to save you from it." He stood up and each step forward felt like shackles were locked around his feet.

When he made it over to Brooke, he leaned on the doorframe. "Why do I have to leave all of the sudden?"

"Well, you don't want to be grilled by Uncle Dan for every minute you're late, do you? I'm just trying to help you out."

Nathan gave her a look and leaned towards her. "I don't believe you, but, to protect myself, I'm going to let it go." He stood upright. "Just make sure you get over to Haley's today."

"I know. She's important to me, too." Brooke walked over to her door and opened it for Nathan. "Do you need an escort to your car?" She asked smugly.

"Not from you."

Once Nathan was gone, Brooke closed the door and rushed back to her room. She peaked out her window to watch him drive away. "Okay, he's gone."

"He doesn't leave easily, does he?" Lucas asked.

She shook her head. "I told you he wouldn't. I gave you fair warning." She plopped herself down on her bed, next to him.

"Brooke, I don't like seeing Haley upset. I never did. Maybe she should be the one to go to Peyton about this instead of us pushing them together. I know that's not how you want it, but they both need time to collect their thoughts. Haley probably needs her best friend right now."

Brooke nodded. She just wanted it to work out so bad. "I'm guessing you're going to Peyton's?"

"No, I'm not on Peyton's good side anymore. She thinks I've changed too much. I'll just see you later, okay?"

"Okay, I'll call you later with the latest?"

He smiled at her, before placing a quick kiss on her lips. "Yeah." He got off the bed and turned to Brooke, "I wish that we didn't have to sneak around, but I understand if you want to wait until things are better for Haley and Nathan."

"Thanks. I'm sorry, Luke. It's all part of the fun, though, right?"

He gave her a wink. Then he smiled after Brooke blushed. "Yeah, it is, Pretty Girl." Lucas left.

Brooke fell backwards on her bed. Her smile was plastered on her face. Then it turned into a frown. Was she allowed to be so happy when the people she cared about were torn apart?

She picked up her phone to call Haley. As it rang, she braced herself for the worst. Haley didn't answer her call. She placed her phone on her bed and contemplated what she should do. The answer was obvious that she needed to be there to pick up Haley, since Nathan didn't think he was capable.

She quickly changed her clothes, put on a pair of shoes, and took her car keys off her vanity. "I'm coming for you, Haley," she said as she got into her car.

Brooke got to Haley's in record time. She ran up the porch steps and started knocking on Haley's door. Her fingers shook as she nervously waited to see Haley's face.

Haley appeared, shyly. Her hair was messy and her face didn't hold it's bright features. She looked at Brooke with dead eyes.

"Hales," Brooke was speechless because she's never seen Haley like this and she could even begin to think of how Nathan must of thought at the sight. Brooke regained her strength to speak and she was determined to get Haley through this.

"Nathan told me you'd be stopping by." Haley said hoarsely.

Brooke nodded in triumph. "That's right. I'm here to pick you up. What do you say to a day on the beach? Just you and me." Brooke offered.

"I don't know, Brooke. I'm not in the mood to do anything right now."

Brooke put her hand on Haley's screen door handle. "I promised you that I was going to be here for you no matter what happens. Let's try this again. Haley James get your butt in my car and let's go to the beach." She said firmly, but still sweetly. "We could do this the hard way. Last night I beat up Nathan. I like you and don't want to have to wrestle you out."

Haley played with her pinky ring.

"Well?"

Haley sighed and opened her screen door to let Brooke inside. Brooke followed Haley. "That's my Tutor Girl. Fix yourself up and meet me back here. I'm only giving you ten minutes before I march up there to see if you're actually getting ready."

Haley walked away with slumped shoulders. She wasn't expecting Brooke to act like a drill sergeant, but she knew that Brooke was doing this to keep Haley from dwelling. She didn't know exactly what Nathan told her, but she knew that Brooke wasn't going to rest until Haley was enjoying herself. It was hard to think about when all she could think about was her betrayal to Peyton. Especially since, Brooke and Nathan were the reason for that.

xxx

She sat next to Haley on the sand. Their feet were buried in the warm sand. Neither had said much. Brooke knew that she shouldn't push Haley over the edge, but she was curious to know the mystery behind her and Peyton's past.

"That's Nathan's beach house," Brooke pointed to the dock in the distance. "We'll pass it by when we walk along the water. I don't know about you, but I don't want to get sand in my shoes." She nervously chuckled before resting her chin on her knees.

"You want me to talk about it, don't you?" Haley asked.

"I just want to help you. If talking is what makes that happen, then yes, unless, you'd rather talk to Nathan? When he came over, he was worried sick about you."

Haley shook her head. "I want to tell you, but it's horrible and I need more of the story."

"Take your time."

Haley didn't say anything after that. She was actually mesmerized by the water. It hit the sand in the same place every time. The wind wasn't strong enough to bring more water further up the shore. Then her eyes watched as water sprayed the rocks. She quirked her head when she saw wild curls blowing in the wind. Peyton Sawyer was sitting on the rocks with a sketchpad.

"Did you know that she was here?" Haley turned to Brooke. She motioned over to the rocks.

Brooke studied to where Haley pointed. "I know nothing about Peyton. Why?"

Haley corrected herself. Of course, Brooke didn't know because Brooke wasn't aware about what she upset about. Haley stood up. "I'll be right back, okay?"

Brooke nodded. "Are you sure that you don't want to take that walk?"

"After I talk to Peyton. I just want to see if she'll tell me why she won't talk to me. She probably won't, but I might as well try."

Brooke let her go and prayed that Peyton wouldn't cause more tears to come from Haley. From Nathan's description of the previous night, Haley couldn't possibly be able to produce any more tears.

Haley climbed the rocks. She didn't want to scare Peyton off. Once, on the top, Haley could see that it really was Peyton. She was scribbling on her paper while she looked out to the lighthouse.

"I know you're there Haley. I heard you trip on the rocks."

Haley nodded. "I need to talk to you. I want to know the whole story." She sat next to Peyton. "You hit me with quite a bombshell."

Peyton looked over to Haley. "I told you that I didn't want to talk to you and just because I told you about my mom, didn't make it okay for us to start talking." Peyton threw her pen and paper in her bag and placed it over her shoulder. "Leave me alone. You did it so easily before." Peyton climbed down the rocks.

Haley rested her head in her hands. There was no way Peyton was going to make this easy for her. She didn't want to give up trying and Peyton wanted her to.

A few minutes later Haley felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked to see Brooke.

"How about that walk now? I saw Peyton storm off." Brooke stood in front of Haley and offered her hands to her. When Haley agreed, broke pulled her to her feet. Then she put an arm over her shoulder. "I want to take a second because I just climbed all theses rocks. Kidding, it's a great view up here and breezy, too. I'll have to mention this to Nathan."

Haley turned her head. "Why would you mention this to Nathan?"

"So he can take you up here."

Haley rolled her eyes. "We're not back together."

"I know that. He told me when he broke into my house. As your friend, he can take you. I'm ready, now. You better catch me if I fall." Brooke gave Haley a little push, so Haley would climb down first.

"I'm here for you, Brooke."

The breeze from the shore hit the girls as they walked down to the beach houses. Haley couldn't believe that Nathan had another large house. She knew that he used it for parties.

"See, I don't understand why Nathan didn't just sleep here last night. No, he had to come to my house and scare me to death." Brooke complained.

Haley chuckled.

"Laugh all you want. If he wants to escape Thursday, then he'll be staying here."

"I thought you offered to take him off of my hands? You wouldn't have to be alone in your house all the time."

Brooke mumbled, "I'm not as alone as you may think. Today isn't about me. It's about you. So, tell me what happened. I need to know if I get to publically humiliate Rachel for this."

"It has nothing to do with her. She's easy to deal with." Haley took in a deep breath. She wondered what Brooke would think of her after she was done telling her about the horrible thing that she had done. Haley also wondered if Peyton would find out that she even told Brooke. That would just make it harder for Haley to reach out to Peyton.

"Last night, Peyton stopped by and she told me why we lost touch. Apparently it's my entire fault and you and Nathan had something to do with it. Once I started dating Nathan, I spent all of my time with him and then you and I became friends."

Brooke nodded, "That's understandable, Hales. Sometimes when you're in a relationship, you want to be with your boyfriend all of the time. You lose touch. It just happens. Peyton should get that n dot hold this huge grudge on you."

Haley's feet sunk in the wet sand. "That's just the start. I guess, Peyton's mom was pretty sick from cancer and she lost the battle."

Brooke's face dropped in shock. No wonder Lucas told her that he couldn't tell her. It wasn't like she could have helped in any way. She knew that Peyton's dad was away, but she never knew about her mother.

"I didn't even know about it. I was too involved with Nathan and cheerleading to even ask her how she was. I just didn't seem to care, like we weren't even friends." Retelling the quick story was bringing back the feelings that Haley was trying to hold back for Brooke.

"No, Hales," Brooke stopped walking, "there was no way that you could have known. Come here," Brooke enveloped her in a hug. "You care. I've seen it. You care about others so much." She kept her hold on Haley.

"Then why? Why didn't I ask or even call her?"

"I don't know, sweetie."

Haley wiped at her eyes, like she had done many times before. "I want to know, Brooke. There had to be a reason why I cut her out. I wouldn't do that just because I had a boyfriend. The only way I'll know is if I talk to her."

"Or you could try talking to Lucas?" Brooke froze when she mentioned him. She felt Haley move out of her arms. "I mean, he used to be your friend, too. He probably knows just as much as Peyton does. Plus, it seems that he actually talks to you."

"But,"

"Think about it. Peyton's still pissed beyond words and Lucas has tried with you. It couldn't hurt. It's not like you're going behind Peyton's back. All your doing is getting the answers that you deserve."

Could Brooke be right?

xxx

**I tried making this one a bit longer because I start school in two days! I hope you'll enjoy this until then.**

**Thanks for getting this story to 100 reviews! Keep them coming!**

**Until next time, thewordsilack **


	13. Homesick

_Everything around me seems so much different from where I'm from_

_And at this rate I think my fates been sealed._

_This life's so unpredictable._

_Well go, continue to live a life that_

_No one knows._

_Where's this gonna go?_

"Homesick"-A Day to Remember

There was a list of people that Haley had to talk to. Some conversations were going to be way easier than others. Some weren't even going to happen, at least not now. Her main talk was going to be with Lucas. Haley had no clue if he was going to say anything that would even help her. Luckily, there weren't signs that Lucas was going to ignore her completely. If that went the way she hoped, then she would go to Brooke because she was the only person that really knew what was going on with her. That led her to Nathan. She had multiple things that she wanted to tell Nathan. Though she was not ready to tell him about why she met up with him in tears, there were other things that she was curious about. The last person, Peyton, was cleared because she guessed that Peyton was true to her words from the days before.

Apparently, the last person she had planned on seeing was bummed up to first place.

Haley took in a deep breath as she found her courage. She saw Nathan sitting at a table in the library reading, to her surprise, and decided to apologize to him. When Nathan left after comforting her, Haley knew that it was partially because of her and she wanted to get back on track with him.

She didn't know whether to just sit down next to him or to tap his shoulder. If he jumped, then she would be startled, too, and probably embarrassed. Haley knew that she probably looked odd because she was standing so close behind Nathan.

"I know you're there, Haley." Nathan lifted his head from his book. Then he closed it before turning to face her. He gave her a knowing look.

"Oh," she said dumbfounded. _Smooth, Haley James. _She placed her book bag on the table and sat in the seat next to him.

"Is there something that you wanted?" Nathan asked her. He couldn't help but shake his head while Haley bit at her lip. "You know, one of these days, you're going to chew your lip until it bleeds."

When Nathan motioned to her lips, Haley slid her teeth away from her moist lip. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry if I upset you when you were at my house. You left so suddenly and I just…"

"Don't," he stopped her. "I already told you that it had nothing to do with you." It had everything to do with her. Something was obviously bothering her and Nathan knew that coming to her rescue wasn't going to make her think any differently about how she felt about him. He shouldn't use her sadness to gain any respect or even love. When he tried to fall asleep, he felt terrible about how he left her.

"I still feel guilty about it though. You pretty much stayed by my side while I cried. It's not a moment that I'm proud of." She moved her thick wavy hair away from her face. Then she let out a sigh, "I'm not making it seem like it, but I'm really glad that you were there. I don't how I could have been if you weren't."

Nathan felt his heart swell up. It did that whenever he received a comment from Haley. Even when they dated, her kind words made him fell that he wasn't the bad or ignorant person that people thought he was. If a girl, like Haley, could see past his protective wall, then Nathan wanted to prove that he was.

"So, um, did your weekend go as you predicted?" Haley asked. It was the best topic changer, but she was curious to see if Dan kept his spot as Nathan's number one hassle.

At first, Nathan didn't know what Haley was talking about. He able to figure it out once he saw her concern grow. Nathan remembered that he had parked his car in the long driveway. His eyes were glued to the doorway because Nathan knew that any moment, his father would be making his appearance. This wasn't the first time that Nathan had stayed out all night and returned home the next morning.

"And then some. I know that it's my fault, too. My blood pressure skyrockets whenever he's around because I know that he's just going to critique me on every move that I make. I don't think I'll ever have a moment where I feel like I've escaped him."

Haley rubbed Nathan's arm. His arm was much larger than hers was. It brought a small smile to her face when she remembered the feeling of being surrounded by his arms. She could burrow into chest and be safe and warm while she hid from the painful world.

"I don't think that's going to happen." She told him soothingly.

"Really? It seems pretty clear to me. Nothing's going to stop him from living through me." He felt himself getting frustrated and he didn't want to be that way around Haley. That's why he secluded himself in the one place that only allowed silence. Hiding out in the library wasn't the best choice because that's the first place Haley had found him.

Honestly, Haley didn't actually have an answer for him. She didn't even have it for herself. He was in emotional pain and she wanted to take his mind off of his father and the misery that came with it.

"I hate sound like a selfish broken record, but I actually came over because I needed you. I needed to talk to you and I needed this," he placed his hand over hers, which still rested on his arm. "Then I saw you crying and I threw out every thought about my problems because this time you were the one who needed me."

Her eyes traveled down to the hand that was placed over hers. Then they went to his. She couldn't put any words together because she was in disbelief. Nathan was full of surprises. Why did her dream Nathan have to be the sweet one when the real one was such a nightmare?

"That's not selfish at all." She said softly and then she gave him a small smile.

He noticed that his hand had been on hers for a while so he pulled it away. All he wanted to was caress her hand with his. The friendship status was driving him crazy because they could never be that way. They were always going to be more or nothing at all. He wasn't going to settle for nothing.

Nathan cleared his throat. Then he chuckled, "I really am forgetful."

"What do you mean?" She asked as she took her hand off his arm and hid it under the table.

"I still never asked how you were doing. I let my problems take up most of our time."

"You really need to stop worrying about wasting time because that's not what's going on. Now, to answer your previous question, I'm still processing everything that Peyton has told me. I'm going to get answers to clear everything up though." She told him quickly and she picked up her bag.

As she walked out, Nathan's eyes stayed glued to Haley's backside. Now, he was beyond clueless with this girl. What did Peyton have to do with Haley? Better yet, was her old best friend the cause of her tears?

xxx

Lucas closed his locker and gave a startling jump, when he saw Brooke on the other side. Then he looked around to see if Nathan or anyone who knew Brooke were around.

"I didn't think you'd be so afraid of me." Brooke joked.

He scratched the back of his head, as he turned to his side to lean on his locker. "It just was something that I never expected. I thought you wanted to keep us low key?"

"I do. This isn't about us. I just came to tell you that Haley's going to want to talk to her and you better give her the answers that she wants." She pointed a finger at him.

Lucas let out a sigh. He wanted to be able to reason with Brooke, but her hazel eyes usually got the best of his logical thinking. "I can't believe I let myself get into this. Peyton and Haley should be the ones who should be dealing with this. There isn't anything that you and I should be doing about it."

Brooke pouted. "You promised that you would do something for me and this s what I want. I want you to do make Haley less miserable. So far, you're not doing so well."

"If you want your best friend to be less miserable, then why don't you tell her?"

She didn't know if Lucas was going to believe what she was about to say. People weren't too sympathetic towards others who thought they were in some sort of dreamland. "Because," the tone of her voice became quieter, "Haley doesn't think that any of this is actually happening. I don't really know how to explain this to you other. She thinks that this," she made a motion with her hands, "is all a dream."

Lucas raised his eyebrow. That was ridiculous. Alternate universes were just fantasies that people wished for, like their own utopias.

"Before you say it's crazy and that I'm even more crazy for believing her, just think. Haley doesn't even remember what happened. It's not a little thing that she could just forget. This ended a relationship that she had with Peyton," she paused, "and you."

Brooke looked over her shoulder to see Haley walking towards them. "Well, I guess you don't have too much time." She sent him a soft smile.

"Hey, Brooke, I just wanted to thank you for being there for me this weekend." Haley told her while they shared a hug. Haley looked up to Lucas, who appeared to be zoning out.

Brooke pulled away. "I'm going to head to class. I'll see you later."

"Okay?"

When Brooke left, Haley turned her attention to Lucas. "Everything all right? You seem miles away."

_I could say the same to you. _"Um, I'm fine. So, I'm guessing that you're the one that Peyton's more upset with than me? I would thank you for that, but that's not fair to her."

"Yeah," Haley groaned through her teeth. "I've tried talking to her, but she keeps shutting me down. I was actually looking for you because I thought you might talk to me instead?" Haley asked him nervously. "If you don't then I understand that you're just being a loyal friend to her. You know, unlike me."

Lucas looked at her deeply. He knew that she was being sincere, but it still baffled him that Haley thought that she was living in a dream. Sure, what Brooke said made some sense, but it was going to take more serious thought to be able to fully believe it. If he told her, then it could help her memory or it could just plain out help her. Lucas didn't like to see Haley so torn.

He swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. "What do you want from me exactly? Didn't Peyton tell you about her mother?"

Haley nodded. "Vaguely. I just know that's there's more to it. You know that I wouldn't just throw her out of my life for a boy. It can't be, 'Haley's ignoring me just because she's with somebody'. Can you please, talk to me? Please, Luke?" her voice cracked.

"Okay, I have free period. Do you have class?"

"I'm all yours. Thank you so much,"

Lucas let out a sigh, "you don't need to thank me. After this, just don't dig at Peyton or me. Let it set in and let Peyton be her moody self. She'll eventually be less bitchy towards you."

She eagerly nodded. "Lay it on me. I'm ready."

_Haley walked into Peyton's room. She could hear the blaring rock music from a few houses away. There was no reason to call her or even knock on the door because she preferred to drown out all non ear-damaging sound with her records. Luckily, Haley's ears were used to being blown out by her best friend and her love for a good song. _

_She plopped herself next to Peyton, who was lying on her bed with her sketchbook resting on her knees. Haley's eyes drifted to catch a glance at the newest Peyton Sawyer original. _

_Peyton's eyes caught Haley trying to look. She closed her book harshly. Then she got up from the bed and turned her music down. _

"_Sorry, I didn't think I was bothering you." Haley smacked her lips together. She could taste the sweet sugary taste of her gloss. It was something that Brooke suggested for her to wear and so far she was enjoying. As far as she could tell, so was Nathan._

_Peyton rolled her eyes. "Miss Cheerleader has you wearing that slimy goop? I didn't think I'd ever see you here again."_

_Haley turned on the bed and her feet hit the hung off of the side. "You're my best friend, why wouldn't I be here?" She swung her legs. "I haven't really seen you in the past few days, so I thought it would just be me and you today. I already called Lucas and he said he was fine with it. He did sound kind of agitated, but he's probably just jealous." She rambled on happily._

_Peyton was disgusted with how Haley was now acting. She was basically turning into the person that they always were against. The two would outside during lunch and joke about how superficial everyone around them seemed. Brooke Davis and the other popular athletic teens were the main targets. Being with Haley, now, was just like having another one of those people in the world. _

"_Are you even listening to anything that I just said?" Haley asked, a bit annoyed that Peyton wasn't paying attention. She was trying to make an effort with her because they haven't hung out as much as they used to._

"_Sorry, I'm just trying to figure out where Brooke Davis ends and you begin." She stated dryly. _

_Haley scoffed. "I really wish that you would stop bashing Brooke all the time. You're making her out to be a terrible person. She's just the opposite, but you wouldn't know that because you know nothing about her."_

"_And I don't plan on getting to know her anytime soon."_

_Haley stood up. "One day you will. I'm not going to balance you two out in my life forever. At my wedding I'd like to have both of my best girl friends getting along."_

"_Wedding? Do you hear yourself right now? You've been dating Nathan for what, a month now? Nathan isn't going to settle down with some girl that he dated in high school. He's going to drop you for the next girl that grovels at his feet."_

"_Nathan's not like that. He cares about me and he actually wants to be in a committed relationship with me. Maybe he just dropped you because he was tired of you always talking him down. I sure know that I'm getting sick of it." Haley bit back._

_Peyton felt her anger rise. Haley never talked to her like that and she never threw her screwy relationship back in her face. She had been the one who always told her to ditch him because things between them were never going to change. _

"_You want to know what's really odd? I could never figure out why Nathan would be dating you. He must think that he's going to get something out of it. I mean he's into girls with much, much more experience. How would his reputation change when all his friends found out that he cracked the straight A virgin?" She sent her a triumphed smile, not knowing that she was the one who really lost. _

_Haley's anger turned into hurt. She winced at Peyton's words. Mocking her virginity wasn't what she was prepared for and it definitely wasn't a thing that Peyton could just use to hurt her. it was Haley's choice and she truly believed that Nathan was respectful of that. He never yet pressured her with the topic of sex. All she knew was that it was a major blow to their friendship. _

"_I can't believe you said that to me." Haley's breathing quickened as she held back her tears. "You know how important my virginity is to me and you never judged me because of it."_

_Peyton's arms were folded across her chest. There was no look of regret on her face. _

"_Maybe it's for the best that I spend most of my time with Brooke and Nathan. I'm done here. This will be the last time that I ever walk through that door," she said, pointing into the open doorway." Haley walked forward, "and it's the last time I'll ever tell you that you were my best friend."_

"_Fine by me. Just make sure you have someone else to come to when you find out that I'm right about Nathan." _

_A tear fell from Haley's eye and she rushed out of Peyton's room. There was no way that she wanted to give Peyton a second chance after this. Nothing was going to make Haley forgive her. As of right now, Peyton Sawyer wasn't a part of her life anymore._

"I ended it." Haley said softly. "She was right. It was all my fault."

"You two never tried to speak to each other after that. Peyton didn't think that she had anything to apologize for because she thought she was telling you the truth. Eventually, it didn't matter who said what because neither of you cared to rebuild your friendship. A bout another month later, Peyton's mother died and Peyton thought you would go back to your caring and unselfish self and be there for her." Lucas folded his hands together on the table.

"I shouldn't try to talk to her?"

Lucas shook his head. "I don't see the point right now. Peyton's still having trouble getting over it. For a while she was fine. Now, it's probably constantly on her mind because all of the sudden you started caring again."

"I just can't believe that was really what happened. I never thought I would see that side of Peyton."

Lucas nodded. "When she told me what happened, I didn't believe that she could be talking about you. That was until I started seeing you change, too."

"I never meant to." Haley whispered. "I didn't think that I could."

Lucas pressed his lips together. He couldn't think of what else he could tell Haley. Nothing was going to make this okay. "You're right about something, though."

Haley stood up from the table. "I don't think so. This girl can't be me, Lucas. It's not."

Lucas stood up and cautiously wrapped his arms around Haley. "You're right about Nathan. He cares about you so much. I never thought that I'd see the day where he put you above everything else in his life."

Haley let out a sniffle as she stayed in Lucas' arms. She was reminded of that when she talked to Nathan in the library. He had told her that his issues didn't matter because she was in the need of comfort. It had made her feel important. A guy had never made her feel that way. Nathan sure seemed like the perfect guy.

"Isn't this sweet?" Haley quickly pulled away from Lucas. Then she wiped the few tears from her cheeks.

"What do you want, Rachel?" Haley tried asking her nicely, but inside she wanted to make her disappear from her life.

"What makes you think I want anything?" She placed her hand on her chest, "I'm just so glad that I got to witness you two getting back together."

"We're not dating and we never did, not that any of that is your business." Haley folded her arms over her chest.

"Is this why you and Nathan broke up? I can't believe you would cheat on Nathan with Lucas of all people. That's pretty slutty, Haley. Unless, Nathan doesn't know about this?"

"There's nothing to tell, just because two people hug, doesn't mean they're dating. I mean you sleep with guys all the time and it doesn't mean anything to you. If anyone's the slut, it's you. I'm also guessing you have the diseases to prove it?" Haley firmly stated.

Lucas smiled in approval when he watched Haley stand up to Rachel. In the time that they had spent apart, she sure gained a ton of confidence. He knew that some of it was from Brooke, which he was thankful for.

"Don't worry about telling Nathan about what you think you saw because he's going to believe my word over yours. Nice try, honey."

"You can't have everything that you want, Haley. One day all of this isn't going to be your future."

"And it won't be yours either. If that's the case, then I'll be just fine."

Rachel shook her head and walked away.

"I'm sorry about her. She's just out to get under my skin and I'm not going to let her."

Lucas let out a soft chuckle. "I guess not."

"Thank you for telling me all of that, Lucas. I needed to know, so I could move on from it. I just hope it will be resolved and there won't be tension between any of us anymore." She smiled hopefully. "I also wanted to thank you for saying that about Nathan. I bet it was hard for you because you don't seem to get along too well."

He shrugged like it was nothing. "We just grew apart. It happens and we both deal with it."

She sent him one last smile. "I should get going. As much as I hope, but I have a feeling that this isn't going to change our friendship. I wish that wasn't the case."

"I really don't know Haley. I've missed you and all, but," he let out a frustrated sigh, "I guess we just don't know yet."

Rachel's words were still ringing in his ears. _'You can't have everything that you want, Haley. One day all of this isn't going to be your future.' _It scared him how right the devilish red head could possibly be.

xxx

"I was hoping I'd find you here." Haley said. She was standing outside the entrance to the gym.

Nathan let out a chuckle. "This is usually where I am by the end of the day. What can I do you for?"

Haley scrunched up her nose. "Maybe a shower?"

He smirked. "Sorry about that. There's actually something I wanted to ask you and I don't know if you'll be too happy about it so I might as well just…"

"Nathan, what's wrong?" She began to worry. She had been waiting to ask him if he wanted to go to the boardwalk with her. She thought it would be a nice evening to checkout some of the carnival rides that were built there. Haley didn't mind that she was going to have Nathan to herself for once.

"This morning, in the library, you mentioned something about Peyton. I wanted to know if she was the reason why you've been so upset? She's not worth your tears, Hales. I know you two were best friends and all, but she hurt you really bad."

It dawned on her that Peyton's name might have slipped out when she was trying to get out of the library. She was just used to Brooke asking her if she was okay with the situation that it had all slipped out. Nathan was going to find out sooner that later what had really happened. Now, that he was aware that it had to do with Peyton lying through her teeth was pointless.

"Did you get the answers you were looking for?" He then asked.

"Um, yeah. I talked to Lucas today. He really helped me see things more clearly."

Nathan nodded. "That's good. Do you want to talk more about it? I'm here if you need someone to listen."

He was always there.

"I just want to go home." She gave Nathan a small smile. Her previous plans with Nathan didn't matter anymore.

He nodded before placing his arm over her shoulders. Nathan began leading her from the school to the parking lot. "I think Brooke's staying after to work on some stuff for cheer. I have no clue why, but she seems so distant lately." He began talking about how Brooke was acting suspicious.

Nathan didn't understand her. She moved herself out of his embrace. She watched as he came to an abrupt stop and then looked at her with worried eyes. "No," she shook her head, "Nathan, I want to be able to close my eyes and wake up home."

This time he wasn't the reason why she wanted to be far from here. Right now, Nathan was one of the reasons why she wanted to stay here forever.


	14. Keep Dreaming Upside Down

_Now I've lost myself_

_Oh I forgot how this felt_

_The night is young_

_We wait for love_

_Upside down we dream_

_At home we sleep_

_And wait to leave_

_Upside down we dream_

_And we, are, are brighter than stars back home_

"Keep Dreaming Upside Down"- October Fall

"So what did you want to do, tonight? I was thinking that we could just stay in. You know, with all the pressure that you're feeling you probably don't want to do anything too draining." Haley began rambling. She was in the kitchen and scrambling to pull out food for her nightly guest.

She had agreed to let Nathan spend the night at her place before the game. Her decision wasn't made just on Dan making Nathan's life hell. For the past few days, Nathan had been there for Haley and she would feel guilty if she didn't let Nathan stay away from his life at home. Brooke also told her that she couldn't let Nathan stay at her place, but she couldn't give her a reason why.

"I have no problem just staying in. I actually prefer it." Nathan called to her. He sat on her couch, which he guessed he would be sleeping on in the next few hours. He probably wouldn't get too much sleep because he'd rather be upstairs with her. Nathan wanted to be able to wrap his arms around her and pull her close to him. That was the most comfort that he ever felt in his life.

"Okay," Haley rested her hands on her countertop and took in a few breaths. _It's only, Nathan. He's your friend, now. _

After getting herself together, she stepped back into the room where she left Nathan. At the sight of him sitting on the couch, with his arm draped over the top, made her think of how Peyton described him.

"_I could never figure out why Nathan would be dating you. He must think that he's going to get something out of it. I mean he's into girls with much, much more experience. How would his reputation change when all his friends found out that he cracked the straight A virgin?"_

She couldn't let that get to her right now. Her and Nathan weren't even together so the topic of sex would never have to come up, which Haley was thankful for. There was always her doubt that this Haley was more ready than she was. Maybe Nathan missed that about her.

Haley walked around and set the bowl of chips and sodas on the table. She felt embarrassed by the way she was acting. Nathan probably thought she was being lame, just like the real one did.

"You're trying too hard." Nathan motioned for her to sit next to him.

She took his invitation. "Sorry," she chuckled, "I never had a guy stay over before. Not that we're going to do anything, but I just…I don't know." She hid her face in her hands.

He smirked at the sight of her being flustered around him. Most girls were over confident around him, but when he met Haley she didn't care about his status and she was also shy around him.

"It's fine, Haley. " his glance turned over to where his arm was rested. His fingers were close to her shoulder. He moved his hand, so it was further from it.

Nathan felt like he was getting mixed signals from Haley. The day in the library, she hadn't feared his touch and she even placed her hand on his. There was no doubt that Nathan felt the slightest glimpse of hope that they didn't have to do this friendship charade anymore. Then, when the school day was over, he felt Haley slipping away from him again. Part of that could have easily been his fault because he brought up Peyton and Lucas. He just wished he knew what was going on in her head.

Haley nodded, "Okay, we can just talk then. What team are you guys playing against for this _big _game?"

"Bear Creek. It's only a huge deal because not only are we rivals, but also the winners of this game have a shot at the state championship. This is Coach's last year, too, so there's a lot of pressure on our shoulders."

"Wow."

Nathan nodded. "There's one guy on the team that I want you to watch out for. He kind of thinks he has a shot with you. Plus, he and I went to High Flyers together and we never got along. His free throws suck."

"And who is this cocky jock I should watch out for?" She asked jokingly.

He turned his head to look at her, "Damien West and that wasn't funny." He joked back to her.

"I just find it ironic. That's supposed to be your role."

"Well, it's not. At least, not anymore. I know that's how it works in Haley Land, but here I've changed. I'm the only cocky jock that you should have to change."

"Trust me, I'll stay away from this Damien West and I won't take up the profession of changing jocks into well mannered citizens." She smiled.

"You got that right." He waited for her to say something. "Thanks for letting me stay tonight. I know things haven't been easy for you. That's just one of the many great things about you. Even if you have your struggles, you put others' first. I can't believe the countless times you've done that for me and I want you to know, that I'm going to start doing that for you."

His words meant the world to her. She sent him a soft smile in appreciation as the feeling in her chest soared. It brought away all of her worries about not being able to wake up in her familiar world. So far, she definitely liked this one better.

Sure, she had Lucas and Peyton as friends, but here, she had Brooke and Nathan. They were two people who cared about her greatly and showed her that there was more to them than their appearance and material living.

"Thanks, Nathan. I really wish that I could have met this version of you. I think I could have really gotten along with you."

"Yeah" he let out a small sigh, "well, you've got me now." His fingertips graced her shoulder.

She cleared her throat. "I know we're getting all sentimental, but maybe we should save that for some other time and just have a bit of fun?"

He raised his brow. "I thought you liked being the responsible one? I'm not complaining or anything, I'm actually surprised."

"Hey," she swatted at his chest. "I can be fun." The girl that Nathan fell for had to have some spunk in her, right?

Nathan let out a chuckle, before standing up and walking over to Haley's entertainment center. He opened a cabinet and began rummaging through it.

Haley perked up, "What are you looking for?"

"Since I've been spending my nights here, I brought over my PlayStation and a few of my games. It puts my mind on having fun playing, because it's not that way on the real courts anymore." His muffled voice said to her.

Haley watched as he tried not to bump his head as he leaned backwards. He blew the dust off of it and began to put it together.

"Videogames? Really?"

"Yep, and if I remember correctly, you're terrible at basketball and when we were together you've gotten pretty good at playing. I'm actually glad that you don't remember it because you were so close to beating me once." He sent her a smug smile while handing her a controller.

"You weren't the nice guy to just let your girlfriend win?"

"Hell no. Plus, if I even tried to, then you would have figured it out. I can't get anything past you," he explained as he took his seat next to her, "And if you won, you wouldn't let me live it down."

She let out a real laugh. "You are unbelievable!"

"I know. You ready?" He challenged her.

"Bring it on, Scott." She said as confidently as she could.

Nathan looked over to Haley, whose eyes were glued to the screen. He couldn't help but see the spark return to her. His hopes were raised again and this time, he wasn't about to let them fall.

She could feel his eyes on her. As much as she tried to keep her focus, she couldn't help but want to look back at him. She felt her face burn up as her palms began to sweat. She cursed to herself when a strand of her hair fell in her face. When she reached her hand to move it, her fingers brushed against Nathan's. The feeling tickled her skin.

"Let's play," he told her. He pressed start, with his eyes still on her.

Haley's eyes traveled to Nathan's controller. She had no idea what she was doing. Her fingers pressed any button that her fingertips could reach. Nathan's were moving too quickly for her to remember which one she should press. There was no way she was going to win this game.

She groaned when Nathan had scored on her, again. Haley wasn't about to give up just yet.

"It's going to take you a miracle to make some kind of comeback, James. There's only three minutes left before I win."

"Don't remind me." She muttered.

"There it is! Game!" Nathan said loudly as het set his controller on the table. He leaned back on the couch. His eyes went to Haley's back. She was sitting on the edge of her seat and her skin was exposed to him. All he wanted to do was trace her skin, where his jersey number should have been. Instead, he was met with her bare skin and unable to even touch her in that way.

Haley put her controller down next to his. She turned her body to face him. "That's what you call fun? I thought that was complete torture."

His eyes snapped up to look at her. "That's because you were losing."

"I'll get you next game. Mark my words." She poked him. Then she let out a yawn before looking at the clock on the wall. "It's getting late and we have to be up for school. You can take on of the rooms upstairs. I suggested that you take one of my brother's old rooms. Unless you'd rather sleep in a room with Justin Timberlake posters all over the walls?" She told him while she stretched her arms and stood up.

"I'll pass on that. I was just going to crash here."

"It's no big deal. All my brothers are in college or have their own families by now. I insist that it's way better than a silly couch."

He agreed and stood up next to her. He looked down at the table. "Do you want me to clean this up?"

She shook her head, "you can just leave it. I should start practicing if I want to beat you, anyway."

"Like that's ever going to happen, baby." He stopped talking immediately after his word slip. Maybe she would interpret it as a smack talk instead of the way he truly meant it.

He relaxed his body when she responded with, "we'll see about that. I had a good time tonight. I'll see you in the morning."

"See you then." He told her while he followed her up the stairs.

Haley pointed to one of her brothers' room before walking into her own. She closed the door behind her and got herself ready for bed. Once, under the covers she couldn't help but smile at the sound of Nathan calling her 'baby'. It was quite soothing. She snuggled herself fin her covers and drifted off to sleep, waiting for the morning to bring her another day here.

xxx

The entire gym was filled with people. The mixed and echoed cheers could be heard in the locker rooms. It blended over the heartbeats of each of the players as they waited for their coach to lead them out.

"I know very well what this game means to all of us. I just want you boys to know that as long as I can tell that you've played your hearts out, that winning this game won't make me feel less of a coach. I know you've got it in you. So how about we make some Bear Creek Warriors change their battle cries to just plain old disappointment?"

Stern faces cracked smiles for a few split seconds before ringing their minds back to their task.

"1, 2, 3!"

"RAVENS!"

The Ravens jogged onto the court and were almost deafened by the crowd. They began their routine warm ups, while the coach straightened his tie and talked with a few of his other players.

As Nathan squared his shoulders to the basket, he felt his father's black cloud presence. He shook it off and shot the ball through the net.

"Keep it up, Nathan. You're little night away from home better have been worthwhile." Dan said before patting him on the shoulders. He sat down with the rest of the Ravens' fans.

His eyes looked over to find Haley and the other cheerleaders. As he caught her gaze, he smirked. _It was totally worth it. _

"Seems like Nathan and Haley are getting things back on track?" Brooke asked Haley. Nobody could have missed the look that Nathan just gave Haley. "If you don't want to give me any details because he's my cousin, I'm okay with it." She sent Haley a wink.

"There's nothing to tell, Brooke. How was your night doing, wait, you never exactly told me why you couldn't have him over last night? You told me that you'd be happy to take him this time." Haley raised her brow,

Brooke swallowed the lump in her throat. "I just thought you two needed a night together. It's the least I could give you after all that drama you went through this week."

"Well, thanks. We had a great time."

"Glad to her it, buddy." Brooke said with a huge smile. Her eyes looked for a certain blond in the crowd.

The tip off went to the Ravens and all Haley could do was watch as Nathan played the game that meant everything to him. As her eyes followed him she saw an opposing player try to foul him.

Haley gave Brooke a small nudge. "Is number fourteen Damien West by any chance?"

"That would be the one. He'll do anything to try and stop Nathan from having a great game. Speaking of, did he hit on you yet?"

Haley shook her head as he ref blew the whistle and the crowd cheered. "Number twenty-three, or to Raven fans out there, Nathan Scott has scored the first three-pointer of the night. Let's hope the fire keeps burning through him tonight, folks."

And it did, until Damien West had something to say about it.

"Hey Scott, the only thing better than your game is your girlfriend. May I add that she's looking pretty sexy in that skirt?" West told him.

Nathan's jaw clenched. Damien could talk bad about Nathan's game all night and it wouldn't bring him down. All the punk had to do was throw Haley's name into an insult and he would just lose it.

"Bet you Haley wouldn't mind cheering for me…privately." West sent him a smirk. He turned his head to give Haley a lookdown, as his head turned a forceful blow hit him in the gut.

The whistle blew again. "Foul, Scott!"

"Nathan, what the hell are you doing?" The coach bellowed. "You're supposed to pass it to an open player on your team, in case you forgot!"

"Sorry, Coach." Nathan told him with an annoyed expression as he walked up to the sidelines.

Damien had the ball in his hands and dribbled it on the free throw line. He took his stance.

"I guess now you can show Haley just how great of a shot you really are." Nathan told him.

Damien smirked as he shot the ball. The ball hit the rim and came back to Damien.

"Wow," Nathan clapped. "I'm sure she's impressed."

Damien shook off Nathan's taunts as he prepared himself to make the ball into the net. He brought the ball past his nose and went for the shot again. The result was the same.

"Maybe next time, you'll think about talking smack about my girl." Nathan warned him.

The game went on and each team was consistently scoring points. They were now down to the final minutes of the forth quarter. All the Ravens needed was a three pointer to win the game. Tim Smith had possession of the ball and passed it to Nathan. All eyes were glued on him.

Haley could feel her heart beating rapidly against her chest as she prayed for the ball to go in. Nathan deserved this night to be his. She watched as he took form and the ball released from his fingertips.

xxx

"RAVENS WIN!" Tim shouted as he filled his mouth of beer from the keg. Then he ran off into the sea of people.

Brooke shook her head as she led the cheerleaders into Nathan's beach house. "All right, girls, you know the rules. No sleeping with Tim Smith." She turned to Haley, "Why don't you go find our champion. Make sure you congratulate him for me."

"You don't want to do that yourself? He's barely seen you around lately Brooke. Is everything okay with you?"

Brooke nodded. "Everything's fine. Trust me, you'd be the first to know if there was anything major going on in my life. Just enjoy the party, while I go enjoy the booze and boys."

Haley nodded and pushed her way through the crowd. She remembered clearly why she hated going to parties. It was like going o a concert in the summer. The smell of alcohol filled the area and the heat and sweat coming from everybody was suffocating her.

Once, she felt the cool air of the kitchen, Haley felt relieved. There was still no sight of Nathan. She guessed that Dan had a conversation with him after the game about how Nathan dealt with Damien. Haley couldn't figure out why Nathan had decided to chuck the ball at Damien, especially with potential scouts at the game. She felt disgusted with herself because she felt like Dan for a moment. Unfortunately, it was a true statement. One false move could ruin Nathan's chances on a future in the college leagues and then much further on.

"Haley!"

She looked up when she saw Nathan waving over to her. She excused herself as she bumped into people she had ever seen before. Her eyes met with Nathan's outstretched hand, which pulled her effortlessly through the swarm of people.

"Hey, great game tonight." She gave him a quick hug. Then she pushed herself away from him before she had further thoughts of his arms being around her. "What was with you and West?"

Nathan shook his head. "That's not important right now. Do you mind if I take you outside? There's something I wanted to talk to you about," he said over the people's voices.

"Yeah, sure." Haley followed him out of the door. There was a big temperature difference from being in the house. She wished that Brooke could have dropped her off at home before coming to the party so she could change into something warmer. Better yet, Brooke could have just dropped Haley off at home and left her there.

Nathan shoved his hands in his pockets and led Haley further away from his chaotic beach house. "Brooke told me about this place on the beach. I thought we could go there and talk alone. I really wasn't expecting there to be a party. That's Tim, for ya."

"Yeah, we were here a few days ago. I already knew that she was going to talk to you about it."

"No surprises there." He stopped when they were in front of the rocks. "Here, take my hand and I'll help you up."

She took his hand and grabbed the edge of the small cliff. She felt Nathan's hand rest on her back as she climbed. Her eyes widen when she saw the view. The beach was still lively at night as the waves hit the rocks. That wasn't what made her breath hitch in her throat.

"No surprises, huh?" She asked and looked back to Nathan, who was now standing behind her.

"Like I've said before, I can't get anything past you."

She smiled as the waterfront breeze hit her face. On the surface of the cliff, the word 'Prom?' was spelled out in smaller rocks. "How long did it take you to do this?"

"Well, with help from some of the guys on the team, not as much as you think. Sure, it was hard to find rocks in the dark and the guys were making their comments about it, it was no trouble." He chuckled. "I'm not the type to go to dances, but it's senior year and I know how important it was for, well the Haley I knew. What do you say? Will you go to prom with me, Haley James?"

Haley sat down, where there was still some room. She rested her hands in her lap and remained silent.

Nathan, confused, took a spot next to her. "Not the reaction I thought I was going to get, but…"

"Can you tell me more about her? She sounds perfect and I don't think that I can be that girl." She looked at him with pleading eyes.

"Um, okay. She is the most considerate person that I've ever met in my life. I couldn't believe that I was able to get a girl like her to take a chance on me, but for some reason she did. When she smiles, my world gets a little brighter. There's never a dull moment when I'm around her. What I really like about her is that she's not perfect." Nathan looked to her intensely. "Does she sound familiar to you?"

Haley felt her head land on his shoulder to rest. Tears rimmed her eyes as she took in his words. "She also says yes."

"I was hoping she would." He reached over and took her hand to interlock in his.

The two sat on the rock ledge, in silent as the party raged on. Both content with they way things were going between them, even if they were only going as friends. Friends don't always last forever.


	15. Crash

_Just crash, fall down._

_I'll wrap my arms around you now._

_Just crash, it's our time now,_

_to make this work, second time around_

"Crash"-You Me At Six

The party had died down after a few hours. The once blaring rap music had become silent. All that remained were a few passed out bodies and the mixed voices of the ones who actually controlled themselves throughout the night. Then there were the two people upstairs. They were the ones who kept themselves out of everyone's sight. It wasn't the correct party etiquette, but neither could complain because they were in each other's company. One would be out with everyone else indulging in another party and the other would be sitting around with a black cloud on his shoulder.

"I wanted to thank you for everything that you've done for me. I never thought I'd be in a position to ask for something that big from a person." She smiled, "I just hope that Haley can move on and be happy since she knows what happened between her and Peyton. I've really missed my best friend."

Lucas nodded in agreement, "She's always been there, just not in the way we're all used to. The same goes for her."

"Yeah, I never thought that Haley was going to be able to figure things out. The entire time Peyton's been nothing but difficult. I already told you that Haley had tried to talking to her and you know what? I think Peyton should have given Haley more effort. Other than that, I think Haley's better off without her." Brooke sighed. She knew that Lucas was real close with Peyton and he probably didn't want to hear her talk down about Peyton, especially since Peyton has lost people close to her. "How is Peyton doing? I hope she doesn't hate you because I made you talk to Haley."

Lucas answered with a shrug. He hadn't seen much of Peyton because all they did was argue about how Lucas was the one changing just like Haley had. Lucas was tired of it and began to think that Haley did what was best for her. He was going to do the same.

"I haven't really been talking to Peyton. Besides, I've really enjoyed just being with you."

Brooke smiled again. Lucas had made it pretty easy for her muscles to form a smile. He was different than every guy that she had ever dated or met for night and then forgot all about.

"I'm sorry I've been taking you away from your friend. You obviously know that I'm an expert when it comes to that."

"There's no need to apologize for everything, Brooke." He let out a sigh of his own and looked around the room. "We're going to have to leave the room at some point." Lucas told Brooke. He was sitting on a bed, which he hoped wasn't Nathan's or Dan Scott's.

"I know, Luke. Let's just stay here for a bit longer. It's nice and quiet up here. I'm sure Nathan's with Haley, so we have nothing to worry about."

It wasn't that he wanted to leave her; he was tired of having to hide around. There was no point if people were going to find out later. Then there was that tiny feeling that Peyton had been right about Brooke Davis all along. Maybe she kept him away from everyone was because she didn't want to be seen with a guy like him. She didn't seem that way, but there was the possibility that she was being fake. Lucas wanted proof and what better way to get it if he asked his brunette beauty to prom?

He cleared his throat before her name cracked from her lips.

A sudden sound of a soft knock on the door startled Brooke. She moved her hand threw her hair as she got up from the bed. She turned to Lucas, with a panicked look on her features. "Get under the bed," she whispered as she lifted up the covers.

Lucas raised his brow at her. "You can't be serious." He waited for her to smirk at him or give him any kind of sign that she was kidding. Her face remained still and her hand didn't drop the comforter.

He got off the bed and slid himself under, cursing that he continued to play Brooke's little game of hide and never let people seek.

Brooke opened the door a few second later. She tried not to look surprised when she saw Haley waiting on the other side. "Hey, Haley!"

Haley let a chuckle. She guessed that Brooke might be a bit drunk.

"So what brings you up here?" She leaned on the doorframe. "If you're looking for Nate's room, it's further down."

"You're funny. I just thought you should be the first to know that Nathan asked me to prom and I'm going to need your shopping expertise to help me find a dress."

Brooke's eyes immediately lit up. "Hell yeah, I'm picking out your dress! I can't believe he didn't mention to me that he was going to ask you tonight! I thought he would wait until you were his girlfriend again. Wait, are you two…"

"For the hundredth time, no. We're just friends. We're going as friends."

"Lame," Brooke muttered under her breath. "I'm still happy for you guys. We'll go on Sunday. Don't worry about telling my bonehead of a cousin. I'll spring it up on him."

"Okay," she sounded unsure. "I know you told me that you were fine earlier, but I just wanted to double check that you are."

"Yeah, did you need a ride home or anything?"

"Nathan's going to drop me off before he heads home. My fingers are crossed that Dan's not going to be there."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll see you on Sunday?" She asked as she pointed to Haley.

Haley nodded. After giving Brooke a quick hug goodbye she went back downstairs, where Nathan was waiting for her.

"Did you find her?" Nathan asked as he removed a few bottles and cans from his mother's expensive coffee table.

"Yeah, she was upstairs. I thought she'd be with these people," she motioned to the remaining bodies sprawled out in the large room. "Are you sure that we should just leave them here? I can call myself a cab." She picked up a bottle and put in the trash bag that Nathan held.

"Nah, they'll be fine. They'll wake up, wonder what happened tonight, and then mosey on out. It's pretty routine actually."

"Okay. I find it a bit strange that you're going to let strangers stay in your house while you're not even here."

Nathan shrugged. "Maybe Brooke's staying, too. She can deal with them." He sounded annoyed when he set the bag on the ground. "My gut's telling me that she is up to something and it's something that I'm not going to like."

Haley walked over to him and rubbed his shoulder. "I'm sure Brooke will be okay. She told me that she was fine. If it was something important, then I'm positive that she would either come to you or me about it. She's a big girl, Nathan."

"I guess you're right. Are you ready to go?"

Haley let out a yawn. "I think that would be a yes."

She followed Nathan out to his SUV. The early morning was still dark and chilly. She crossed her arms over her chest to warm herself up. The ride over to her house was quiet, but it wasn't the awkward quietness that used to sound them. This was more of a comfortable silence.

"Congrats on your game, again. Looks like Damien West doesn't stand a chance against Nathan Scott." She spoke when he pulled into her driveway.

Nathan let out an amused chuckle. He shook his head. "I had a good time tonight, not partying with you."

"Me, too." She waited for him to speak again, but he didn't. Her nervousness around Nathan began to surface. "Um," she turned to face him and moved her hair behind her ear, "If there's madness going on at your house, give me a call, okay? I probably won't be falling asleep right away or if you just wanted to talk. I don't know what your plans are, but if you were going to stay awake or your dad was bothering you then…" She rambled.

"I'll call you when I get home. In order to do that, I'm going to have to say goodbye now." He joked.

"Oh, right." She sent him one last look before hopping out of the car.

As she walked inside her house and when the door closed, she heard her phone ring. She rolled her eyes when she saw that it was Nathan. "Hello?" she asked, pretending she didn't know whom it was.

"_Was that your goodbye? You might want to practice actually saying it." He laughed._

She laughed in response. "I'm sorry. Goodbye, Nathan, you goof."

"_Night, Hales."_

She hung up the phone and walked up to her room. Haley was exhausted from her long day. There was no doubt that her shopping day with Brooke was going to be another long one. She propped herself on her bed. She didn't want to close her eyes because she wasn't ready to fall asleep and she didn't want to miss Nathan calling her.

Haley sat up. She was waiting on Nathan? The only thing bigger than that was that she was going to prom with the guy she always despised. Her mind had changed that quickly just because this Nathan happened to be opposite of everything he was supposed to be.

She had brushed off the feeling of having to hate him for a while now. It was quite hard to hate him now he brought out a fun side in her. It was almost a more daring side. The only guy she was ever comfortable with was Lucas, but that was in a brother-sister type of way. With Nathan, she couldn't really describe it. She didn't care to because she was too occupied with enjoying his company.

There was nothing wrong with that was there? Since her universe seemed to be flipped, then it was only natural she would conform to it. She had no clue how long she was going to be staying her, so she chose to make the best of it. Nothing seemed to change whenever she woke up. Now, she didn't know how she would feel if she closed her eyes and opened them up to her _home. _A few days ago she would have been thrilled. All she wanted to do was go back there again. Something, more like someone, was keeping her here.

The screen on her phone lit up a few minutes later. She smiled when she answered the call.

"You didn't have to call. I mean you just did." She let out a small laugh.

"_Thought I'd keep my promise."_

_I'm glad you did. _"So what's up? Sorry, I just spent the entire night with you and probably nothing has changed since then,"

"_Slow down, Haley. I just thought you should know that my dad's gone to Charlotte for a meeting with their city counsel. I won't have him breathing down my neck this weekend."_

"That's good to hear. It's weird to me that the absence of your family makes your life more bearable. Mine are gone, too, but I would prefer if they were here with me. I just don't understand like you and Brooke do."

"_That's because your parents aren't trying to run your life or would rather run off to have fun of their own." He added with a chuckle._

"What, traveling the country isn't considered fun to you? I would love to get out and see what else there is out there."

"_You already know what I consider to be fun. Besides, once I get into a higher level of ball I'll be seeing more of the world."_

"Good point." She let out a long yawn. "I think I should get some sleep. It's been a long week."

"_This one definitely kicked my ass. I guess I can let you go."_

"How nice of you." She joked. She told him goodbye and hung up the phone. If this was a normal night for her, then she was going to be losing sleep over it. It was worth it.

xxx

Before walking inside the store, Brooke stopped and turned to her cousin. ""Stop right there, Scott. You're not coming in the store with us. How about you go sit on the bench over there?" She got on her toes so she could see over his shoulder. She pointed to one of the benches.

Nathan was already annoyed with Brooke. Today he had planned on hanging out with some of the guys from the team. Instead, he was forced to go prom shopping with Brooke and Haley. He was hoping that Brooke and Haley would go with each other and he would ask Haley later what color her dress was, so he could just but a tie later. With Brooke, he never got his way.

"You're kidding me, right? You wake me up early, make me drive you to the mall, and now I'm not even allowed an ounce of free will?"

"Yeah," Brooke nodded, "that's pretty much the way it goes. Haven't you been paying attention?"

"What's wrong with me going in the store with you? People already know that we're related, Brooke."

"I just don't want you to see Haley's dress. As her best friend, I want this to be special for her and for you. I know you don't want me meddling. This isn't what that is. Have you ever thought about her waking up and not being here?"

Nathan nodded. He thought about that without a doubt. Brooke was making it seem like it was a bad thing. He would get to be with his girlfriend again and Haley would be with her two best friends. That was what she wanted in the first place.

"So, are you going to go sit down?"

Nathan sighed in defeat. "I can't believe that I always end up doing what you want." He walked away to go sit down.

"Was that really necessary, Brooke?" Haley joined her by her side.

"I'll promise we'll go to a tux shop afterwards!" She shouted across the mall. "What?" Brooke asked the people who were now staring at her.

Haley linked her arm in Brooke's and pulled her towards the store. "Let's just go."

"You're right. So how short were you planning on going?"

Haley began scanning through dresses on the clearance rack. "I don't wear short dresses. The shortest I have ever gone was a bit past my knees."

"This is your senior prom. You're allowed to go all out. Plus, you have great legs. Your figure is too valuable to waste on a long gown. Since, you'll be dancing your ass off with me, we wouldn't want anybody stepping on your dress and ripping it."

"You seem to know everything."

"I do." Brooke's eyes traveled along the wall that held dresses. "Which color were you looking for? I'm going with red. I bought this brand new red lipstick and it would go perfectly with a red dress. Before you say anything, I'm not letting you go in black."

Haley walked over to Brooke. "You're the expert. What do you think? No pink."

"I think Bevin's already wearing a pink dress. We can rule out white because it's usually a pasta dinner." Brooke took a step back to study Haley. "I'm thinking a royal blue or a green to go with your eyes."

"That doesn't sound too horrible."

"I think we should try that dark blue. I'm not sure that I can stand Nathan in a green tie. Plus, blue will be much easier to even find. This is so great!" She clapped her hands together.

After deciding on the color, Brooke pulled a few dresses off the clothes rack. She handed them all to Haley.

"Aren't you going to try any on?" Haley asked as she felt the weight of the dresses fall into her arms.

"I'm just going to order mine offline. Then my parents can get the satisfaction of buying their daughter a prom dress. I came here for you more than me. If any look ridiculous on you, then I'll spare you the embarrassment of showing me and the rest of the store."

"Thanks for the boost of confidence." Haley opened the door to the dressing room and closed it behind her. "Are you going with anyone special to prom?" Haley asked as she began changing.

"Sadly, I think I'm going solo. People think it's sad, but I'm looking on the brighter side of things. I'm single and I'm spending my night with my best friends."

"I'm sure you'll have a great time. Did anyone at least ask you?"

Brooke shook her head. She was surprised that Lucas hadn't even mentioned prom to her. "I think they were all too scared to. I usually turn guys down." She felt sorry for all of the sweet guys that she had ever said no to. They build up the confidence to ask a girl out and they end up hearing that they aren't what a girl is looking for.

"All right, I'm coming out." Haley said proudly. She ran her hands down the dress. She walked out and smiled when she caught Brooke's attention.

"Oh yeah, that's the one." Brooke nodded her head in satisfaction. She ushered Haley back into the dressing room. "You go change and I'll meet you by the register. I was rooting for this one," she told Haley excitedly.

Haley laughed along with her. Once Brooke had left Haley looked at herself in the mirror. The blue dress had a halter neck and a gem where the dress hit the bottom of her dress. The silky material hugged her body and continued to just above her knees. When she first found the dress among Brooke's pile, she second-guessed even trying it on. Then she slipped it on and felt pretty. It wasn't that Haley thought she was ugly, but her choice of fashion was known to be plain and simple.

She put her clothes back on and met up with Brooke again. That dress was put on the counter and awaited its purchase.

"That will be $226.15." the cashier said.

"What?" Haley exclaimed. She turned to Brooke. "Did you check out the tag before you gave me the dress?"

"Did you look at the tag when you were putting it on?" She fired back. "It's no big deal," she went into her purse and pulled out a credit card, "there's still some magic left in this baby." She handed it to the cashier.

"You are not buying this for me. Brooke I've let you buy me clothes once and I swore to myself that I wouldn't let you get away with it again."

"Stop worrying. This dress will be seen on you again. It's perfect for weddings and stuff. It's worth every one of my dad's pennies."

Haley sighed. "I'm not taking advantage of this."

"That's what I love about you, Hales." Brooke took the bag from the cashier and gave it to Haley. "Now, let's get Nathan all dressed up." She walked out of the store, while Haley looked at her in awe.

xxx

"Brooke, I think you're doing it wrong." Nathan tried to say as Brooke continued to attempt tying his tie.

With a huff, she let go of it. "Well, sorry for trying to help you. Just pay for it and we'll go home. It's obvious that you don't want to be here!" Brooke walked away from Nathan towards the exit.

"It's like she was reading my mind." Nathan joked. He looked to the garment bag lying across a chair. "Is that your secret dress that I'm not allowed to see?"

Nathan loosened the silk from the grip around his neck. He took in off and moved his neck to both sides to release some of the soreness that Brooke brought on.

Haley took the tie from Nathan's shoulder and wrapped it around his neck. "That would be the one. I can't even return it after I wear it because Brooke paid for it with a credit card. She doesn't have to do this for me."

"She likes to. She likes being able to afford great things for her friends. The most expensive thing she ever bought Bevin were $15 earrings from Claire's." He looked down and watched as Haley tied his tie.

"Well, I don't like being one of those friends." She tried to concentrate as her fingers grazed his chest. His black dress shirt clung to his muscular chest. When she was done, she looked up to Nathan. "The tie matches your eyes." She told him softly.

Brooke cleared her throat. "You know, when I storm off you guys are supposed to follow me."

Nathan looked over to Brooke and gave her a warning glare. She knew had to ruin the simplest of moments. "Promzilla has spoken."

Haley let out a giggle. "I think she's done for the day."

"Haley, let's go!" Brooke whined.

xxx

As the small group walked into the room they could hear Britney Spears' 'Til the World Ends' playing loudly. Most of the students were already dancing. Brooke had made them a bit late because she wanted to make sure she looked perfect and she wanted a ton of pictures of Nathan and Haley together. In the car ride, her camera didn't stop flashing.

"You two should go find the team ad the squad. I'm going to go to the restroom and make sure I still look good. Nathan, I can't believe you rolled down the windows and put them on child lock. How old are you?" Brooke questioned as she ran her fingers through her hair.

Nathan shrugged. "My hair stayed just fine." He took Haley's hand and led her through the crowd.

Brooke went to the hallway and dialed Lucas' number. She tried getting a hold of him for the past few days and he didn't answer her calls. It went to voicemail again and she hung it up in frustration.

"I think I liked Brooke when she was always busy." Nathan joked.

"Funny," She slicked Nathan on the side of his head. "I'm back!"

Nathan shook his head and went to find their assigned table. He just wanted to spend his night with Haley. Once again, the Brooke Davis Show was cutting into his plans.

Haley was dancing to the music and noticed that Brooke wasn't joining in. She stopped and looked at Brooke.

"You've been lying to me. That's not the beautiful face of a 'fine' girl. Now, tell me the truth."

"You have to promise you won't tell anybody." Brooke warned her. "Promise?"

"Yeah, just tell me what's been going on with you."

"There actually is a guy. He's the one that I went to the bar with after Tric. We've been seeing a lot of each other. I thought he would have the decency to show up tonight and he hasn't been answering my calls. I really like him, Hales."

Haley smiled. She was glad Brooke had found somebody, but why did she hide him from her? "If he cares about you at all, then he'll be here. Who's the lucky guy that snagged you?" She asked curiously.

"If he's shows up you and the rest of my world will find out." She sighed and looked to the exit.

xxx

"I didn't think I'd ever see you back here, again. Did your little cheerleader girlfriend finally get tired of you and toss you to the curb?" Peyton told him harshly.

"I don't know how many times i have to tell you that Brooke is not like that. I only came by to see how you were doing. I heard you talked to Haley and then decided to push her out again." Lucas said as he walked closer to Peyton.

"I don't need you to check up on me. It's not like anyone died."

"Besides your friendship with Haley," he muttered. _And with me. _"I told her, Peyton. I told Haley about what you said about Nathan."

Peyton threw her pen down. "Why are you doing this? You couldn't just leave it alone. You and I were much better off without people like them. You had to ruin that!" She shouted at him.

"I didn't ruin anything. This is all you! I only told Haley because she deserved to know. It's all out in the open now and she can move on. Maybe you should try doing that. I did and it feels great. I'm done with this. I'm much happier once I decided to get away from you and your sorrow."

Lucas phone rang and he chose to ignore. He really needed to get his thoughts out to Peyton. He knew that Brooke was probably calling him since the dance was tonight.

"That your booty call? I wouldn't want to keep her waiting."

"Not until I'm done saying what needs to be said. You started all of this and you're still playing the victim. Haley's still the good person that we've always known. The only reason I got a chance to know that was because of Brooke. You want to be alone? Well, you got what you wanted."

xxx

"Hi, most of you already know me as the cheer captain and student council president, so I don't think an introduction is really that necessary. Are you all ready to hear the winners of Tree Hill's prom king and queen?" Brooke said loudly into the microphone.

The entire room cheered as Brooke took the envelope from the principal, Mr. Turner.

"Our prom kings is," Brooke made a face in confusion, "Tim Smith?"

"Awe, yeah! The Tim is king!" Tim shouted. He attempted to high five some of the people who were around him. He ran up to the stage and hugged Brooke, who made a face of disgust.

"Okay, I don't know who voted for you or nominated you, but congratulations, Tim. Now, let's get down to the more important thing. Who's our prom queen? I know that you were all surprised that my best friend and I aren't on the ballad. That's because we're above all of this hype."

"Yeah right, Davis!" A classmate shouted.

"Anyway, Tree Hill's dubbed queen is Bevin Mirskey! I would say that I'm proud of you, but you'll be sharing a dance with Tim."

Haley chuckled at her friend's antics. She watched as Bevin accepted her crown. Then she plastered a smile as she stood next to Tim for pictures.

"You wish that was you up there?" Nathan asked her.

"With Tim? Not so much." Haley smiled.

"What if your dream guy was the one up on stage? Then would you want to be the one standing up there?"

"That seems to be every girl's fantasy."

"Is that your way of saying yes?" He quirked his brow.

"Now, let's all join in on sharing the king and queen's first dance." Brooke announced. She scanned the crowd for Lucas. She smiled when she saw him by the exit with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

Brooke walked off the stage and made her way over to Lucas. "I didn't think you'd show up."

"Honestly? I wasn't going to. I was going to ask you but you made me hide under a bed."

She bit down on her lip. "Which I meant to apologize for."

"I'm tired of hiding, Brooke. If you want me in your life, I need to be able to be a part of all of it."

Brooke turned to watch everyone partner up and start dancing. She saw as Nathan offered his hand to Haley. Then she looked back to Lucas and offered him her hand. "If you're ready, then I am, too."

"Are you sure?"

"As much as I liked sneaking around with you, I think it's time that I was able to tell people that I would be spending time with my boyfriend." She smiled.

"Boyfriend?"

"Play toy sound better to you? I'm sure Nathan will love that."

He finally accepted her hand. "Boyfriend sounds good to me."

"I thought so." She led Lucas over to where Nathan and Haley were swaying to the music. She tapped Nathan on the shoulder. "I'm dating Lucas and I hope that you can get past your bluster and get past that. I really like him Nathan and he feels the same way."

Nathan looked at Lucas. He knew that he was good guy for Brooke. Sure, they weren't friends anymore, but he wouldn't carry out his grudge and make Brooke feel unhappy. All he did was nod and turned his attention back to the girl he had in his arms.

"Lucas, huh?" Haley nudged Brooke. "You want to know something bizarre?"

"Always? Is it kinky?" Brooke asked as she wrapped her arms around Lucas.

"Where I come from, Lucas had the biggest crush on you. He wasn't too confident, but he always tried to get you to notice him."

"I think this one was trying the same thing. Weird how two worlds can collide?"

"Yeah," she whispered. While in thought, Haley let her head rest on Nathan's chest. The time she spent with Nathan filled her head in a haze. She hadn't remembered laughing around him so much or smiling. The way he talked to her made her feel like she was the only person that he cared about in his life.

"Hey, Nathan?" She lifted her head off of his chest. She wanted to look to his eyes to see if he was feeling the same way that she was.

He looked down to her as they continued to sway to the soft music. "Yeah?"

"I really like it here," with that she rested her cheek on his chest. The rhythm of his beating heart quickened.

"Haley," his voiced cracked. When she looked up to him, he could see the reflection of the lights in her eyes. He couldn't take it anymore. There was no way that he could just be a friend to Haley. He tried it, but it wasn't working for him. Now, he felt like this was one of those moments that he just had to let go and see what happened.

She watched as his face came closer to hers. Her eyes fluttered shut and she felt herself trembling in his arms. This time, when his lips landed on hers, she didn't freak out or push him off of her. Instead, she kissed felt herself kissing Nathan back.

It wasn't as bad as she always thought it would be. Actually, she thought of kissing Nathan Scott to be a nightmare. He knew exactly what he was doing with his lips, which held much more experience than Haley had.

His kiss felt so real. She was definitely awake.

_We try and run away, but end up running back_

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**AN: **I hope you enjoyed this chapter! This quick note is about the timeline. Where I went to school, prom was held during the middle of year. That will be the same in this story in case you get confused about why graduation hadn't happened later on.

Thanks for reading!


	16. Cities Built on Sand

_You suppose a light solution just a simple explanation to this._

_And he a man would love, just love to fill your mind with his._

_And don't stop believing now, and don't stop moving now,_

_And don't be afraid to love for the way he makes you feel._

"Cities Built on Sand"-Versaemerge

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.

"Go, Haley!" Haley could hear Brooke's voice as she brought her lips away from Nathan's. She hid her face in Nathan's chest in embarrassment and let out a groan as she felt his body shake from letting out a chuckle.

"All right, Brooke, that's enough," Nathan told her as he held Haley close to him. He fought the urge to look down to her because he was afraid to see the regret in her eyes.

The brunette just rolled her eyes and looked back to her date. She smiled up to him as the world's balance was beginning to come back.

Haley couldn't believe how she spent all her time hating Nathan Scott, to being his girlfriend, breaking up with him, deciding to be friends with him, and then kissing him again. It was all unbelievably bizarre.

The kiss felt amazing and she wanted to feel his lips against hers again, but there was their agreement to be friends. Nathan agreed to do that for her and he was being respectful toward the agreement. Haley had already played enough mind games with Nathan. Would he want to throw that away? Probably. Could she give that up with all of her past notions? Tonight, was the start.

It was impossible to have a meaningful conversation in the gym with all the people around and the blaring music, so she didn't feel comfortable tossing the label of friends aside just yet. As soon as they were alone, though, she wanted to talk.

"Yo, Nate! After party at the beach house?" Tim jumped in front of Haley, causing her to be removed from Nathan's embrace.

He sent Haley and apologetic glance. "You just had a pre-prom party there. I'm cooling it down on the partying," he told his friend, while putting his hand on his shoulder, "it's going to be fine, Tim."

Tim's goofy grin dropped. "It was going to be the party of the year." He said that about every party that was ever thrown. "Fine," he complained, "See ya around, Haley." He brushed past her and started dancing with a group of girls.

"No party?" Haley slowly took steps towards Nathan. "I thought we were party people?"

He shook his head and sent her a small smile. "I know that you're going to want to talk about our kiss. It's written all over your face."

"Great, you can read my expressions." She said dryly.

"I can't tell if it's a good thing or a bad thing. Don't use the overused excuse of, 'It didn't mean anything' or 'I was caught in the moment'."

The music stopped and the lights turned back on in the gym. Students were shouting to the DJ to continue because they didn't want the night to be over.

"I guess that's it." Haley told him lamely.

He nodded and searched around for Brooke. She was having a great time with Lucas, whom he was surprised to see his boy-crazed cousin with. In their earlier years of friendship Brooke never seemed to care for Lucas. He had no clue when the attraction even started or how long the were together. The important thing was that Brooke was happy and she didn't have to try so hard to flaunt for undeserving lowlifes.

"We could wait for her outside, if you want to? We'll have a chance to talk," Haley offered. Before the dance, Brooke had told her that she was planning on staying with Lucas. She left out the part of telling Nathan not to wait up. Haley knew that Nathan was protective of her, but Brooke didn't always have to report back to Nathan about what she was doing. It was her life and she was definitely living it.

All he did was nod and take her hand as he led her outside. He gave her his suit jacket before opening the door and taking them outside. People were still piling out the doors, so he walked Haley further towards the parking lot, where traffic was already packing tightly.

Once to the car Nathan let out a sigh as he leaned on the side of it. He braced himself with whatever Haley was going to tell him. Kissing her felt like the right thing to do. In his mind, being friends wasn't in the cards. He didn't want to play that game anymore. Nathan meant what he told her in the café. She was going to fall in love with him again.

She didn't know where to start. It was quite obvious that Nathan would rather not talk about it. Haley was analytical and believed that actions meant something. He was right; she wasn't going to tell him that it didn't mean anything because that was a big lie. Plus, she liked that it made her feel more alive.

"This friends thing, it never worked for you, did it?" She asked him.

"No, I always thought it was really stupid. I did it to keep you in my life and I knew that it wouldn't be too long before you realized that it wasn't necessary." He told her cockily.

"There's that confidence. Are you sure that you still want me to be your girlfriend? I was doing a pretty terrible job at it. I did despise you at the time, though."

"And now?" He propped himself off of his car.

"You're not that much of an ass." She stated simply. Haley was actually holding back a giggly squeal.

"I do want you to be my girlfriend and I've waited a long time to hear you say that you wanted to be mine." He took a few steps closer to her.

"I never said that I wanted to be your girlfriend." Her back was now pressed against the car. Her heart fluttered in her chest as he moved closer to her.

"I can always convince you, then." He told her softly as he pressed his lips onto hers and cupped her cheeks.

Haley tried to smile as their lips continued playing with each other. She didn't know why she passed this up the first time. When girls in movies or girls on TV talked about feeling sparks, Haley thought it was all a big joke. That opinion wasn't in her mind anymore because she was feeling something inside at the feeling of Nathan's lips on hers.

After pulling away, Haley could see their breath in the night. She noticed that the window, she was leaning on, was fogged over. She wanted to hide her face in her hands, but instead she smiled at Nathan.

"Well?"

"You did a good job convincing me." she pulled him down to her lips again.

"I've missed you, Hales. I knew you weren't going to be lost forever."

Her hands slid off his face. In a way, he was right. She was completely lost here. Each day her chances of leaving this place became diminished. That didn't bother her as much as before because she was noticed here. She had everything that she never had. It was all the things that she thought were only possible to have is she was popular. Well, now she was. All of those things made her happier than she was in a long time. Maybe this was supposed to happen to her.

.

.

Haley woke up feeling tired from the night before. This time when she opened her eyes, a smile spread across her face. She didn't care how sore her legs felt from all the dancing she did. It was an amazing night and she couldn't believe that it happened to her.

She sat up in bed slowly as her muscle disagreed with her movements. If this was how she felt from just one night, she couldn't imagine how professional dancers must feel.

Her phone lit up and she had a few missed messages from Brooke. Haley knew that she didn't even need to check them because Brooke would be showing up sometime today demanding details. Haley was surprised that she didn't wake up to Brooke bouncing on her bed. There was a chance that Brooke was either with Lucas still or Brooke was even sorer than she was and didn't even want to move for her best friend.

After Nathan had pulled into her driveway, the two didn't leave the car. Haley couldn't believe how much she had kissed Nathan in one night. That was the most risky thing she had done in her life and it probably wasn't true for the Haley that Nathan dated before. There were still blurry spots that Haley wanted to fill in so she could try to be the girlfriend that Nathan had before.

_Brooke better get here, so I can figure it out. _

Her friend stopped by a few hours later. Brooke's hair was thrown into a quick ponytail and she was dressed down from her usual Fashionista appearance. She was walked into Haley's room wearing a hoodie and a pair of yoga pants. She held a coffee in one hand and her coat and car keys in the other.

"Don't you look stunning," Haley joked as Brooke tossed her keys and coat on Haley's bed.

"I'm still exhausted from last night, so I might have to take a nap in your bed with you." She set her coffee down on Haley's desk and then crawled in next to her.

Haley chuckled and scooted over so Brooke could have more room. "I was expecting you to be enthusiastic like you were last night. You were really cheering me on." She joked.

Brooke lifted her head and sent Haley a sly smile. "That's right. So what did you and my cousin do after the dance? Do I need to burn my clothes and shower for hours?" She raised her brow,

"No," Haley shook her head. "All we did was have a brief conversation and then kissed…a lot." Haley blushed.

"That's my girl. I knew you two couldn't resist each other. I'd be doing cartwheels all over your room, but my legs feel like they were beaten with a mallet." She buried her head into Haley's pillow. "I believe you, it doesn't smell like him." her voice came out muffled.

Haley swatted her friend's arm. "If you don't mind, I actually wanted to talk to you about Nathan."

Brooke let out a huff and rolled over so she was on her back. "You'd think I would be in the mood for this."

"All right, Sassy, you've made your point very clear. I'm being serious. If Nathan and I are going to be together, then I want to know more about how he remembers me."

"Fine. I will tell you one story about you and Nathan together and then, we're sleeping until like three. I don't know why you want to know so much after doing everything to not be anything like her. Nathan still seems to like this version of you."

"Brooke,"

"Okay, okay…"

_Haley and Brooke sat by the pool. Both girls had their jeans rolled up and their newly painted feet in the chilled water. Their hoods on their Ravens' sweatshirts covered their hair. The summer weather was slowly turning into fall and school had barely started. _

"_I can't believe that Rachel is still trying to make moves on Nathan. All the other girls on the squad know that we're together." Haley said frustrated._

"_She's just looking for trouble. Besides, every girl in the school is jealous because you were able to snag him. My cousin doesn't do relationships. You should feel honored that he's not being an ass to you." Brooke moved her feet around in the pool. _

_Haley knew that Brooke had been trying to forget her summer vacation that consisted of meeting hot European guys. All Brooke wanted was a serious relationship, like she was able to get. _

"_Luckily, I'll only have to stand her for one more year. I doubt she'll be attending Stanford." Haley said proudly._

"_Probably not. I can't believe you already have your future figured out. I feel like I'm the only one who doesn't. Nathan's had his life planned out ever since he held a basketball in his hands and you're smart enough to go anywhere that you want. The only thing special I've got are my looks and ability to dress myself in hot clothes." _

_Her mind was elsewhere as Brooke continued talking about her bland future. Nathan had college plans? He never mentioned them to her. They've only been going out for a few months and they never really discussed the future. _

"_Where's Nathan going to college?" Haley asked._

"_Duke. It's the greatest basketball school to Dan. It wasn't even Nathan's choice. I know you're more interested in your boyfriend's life than mine, but I wouldn't mind some of your Haley James pep talks." Brooke gave her a small nudge._

"_There's fashion designing schools out there for you. There's a great one all the way in New York that I think would be perfect for you."_

"_There's a school for just about anything isn't there?"_

_Haley nodded. "You could be a well known fashion designer and get to see the world and then you can fly me out to see you because I'll be living on a teacher's salary."_

_The girls shared a laugh. Then they turned their heads when they heard Brooke's gate open and close. Nathan and a few guys from the team entered the backyard. They were all in basketball shorts and hooded sweatshirts._

"_Jeez, you two are like twins. It's almost scary. If you didn't turn around, then I probably would have kissed Brooke." Nathan shivered as he sat behind Haley and wrapped his arms around her. _

_Brooke scoffed. _

"_Why are you two sitting out here and putting your feet in cold water?" Nathan asked as he slid his feet in and then taking them out. He rubbed Haley's arms to warm her up._

'_We're not going to have the chance to be out for much longer. Plus, it was peaceful until you and the guys showed up." Brooke answered. "Speaking of, what are you guys doing here?"_

"_We came to see if you girls wanted to hit up the court with us." A teammate with brunette hair spoke up from the group._

"_Yeah, we could use some cheerleaders." Another one said loudly._

"_What do you say, Haley?" Nathan asked as he rested his chin on her shoulder and hugged her tighter. _

_Haley looked to Brooke, who rolled her eyes. "Do we have to just sit there and watch you or can we play, too?"_

"_What?" Brooke and a few guys said like Haley was insane._

"_I appreciated the excitement baby, but just because you can finally play ball on PlayStation, doesn't mean you're ready for the real thing. Plus, it looks like you two just did your nails." He said lifting her hand._

'_Come on, I think it could be a lot of fun."_

_Nathan let out a sigh, "Fine, but no complaining," he shot a look to Brooke._

"_Whipped," the guys muttered to each other._

_Nathan kissed her cheek before standing up. He helped Haley up before joining the guys and telling them not to go easy on either of them. _

_After Brooke stood up, she linked her arm with Haley's. "Why'd you have to say that?" She asked as they headed inside Brooke's house._

"_Like you really didn't want to see some hot guys sweat?" Haley gave Brooke a knowing look._

"_Why, Haley James, I never thought I was such a great influence on you. There's one problem; you have Nathan. You do know that he isn't going to like you checking out his friends." _

"_And he'll hate it even more when they check us out. It's the only way we'll win." _

"What did that have to do with me and Nathan together as a couple?" Haley interrupted.

"The point is, I have never seen him act like The World's Most Perfect Boyfriend around any girl. Sometimes he was so sweet that I wanted to throw up. Other times, I wish I had that."

It was what most girls wanted. Some would prefer a guy that wasn't too nice and some backbone.

"I have one more question," Haley asked when she heard Brooke let out a long yawn.

"What," she groaned as she made herself comfortable.

"Did we win?"

"What do you think? Now, can we please just sleep?" Brooke turned to her side and didn't say another word.

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.

She watched him as he shot the ball into the next. He was always an amazing player, but he wasn't treated the way a player with his talent should be treated. They stuck together, knowing that none of them were acknowledged for their individual greatness. They all grew up and three turned into one and she didn't want to feel that way anymore.

"Surprised to see me out in the daylight?" She joked as she sat on the metal bleachers.

He didn't go after the ball as in bounced into the grass. "I'm surprised I'm seeing you at all." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"How was the big prom? Did you sleep with your date?"

He titled his head back in frustration. "What are you doing here, Peyton? You're wasting your time if it's just to talk down about Brooke."

"It's a habit." She shrugged.

"What do you want?" Lucas repeated.

"I don't want to be alone. I just am alone. I've felt this way for so long that it's the only feeling I have. You told me that I was playing the victim and you're right. I don't know how to be any different."

Lucas' arms dropped to his sides as he went over to sit near Peyton. "You could start by apologizing?" he suggested, knowing she had a long list of people to say one to.

"You say that like it's the easiest thing in the world to do. I thought you weren't even going to give me the chance to explain myself."

"A part of me doesn't want to, but the other knows what you've been through over the past few years. That doesn't mean that I'm going to drop everything I've been doing recently to spend all my time with you. I really like Brooke and I think my friendship with Haley is getting back on track. Who the hell knows what will happen with Nathan, but he accepts Brooke and I dating."

"I've got to say, I'm quite jealous of you. If you do ever become popular, please do me the favor of leaving me behind." She said sarcastically.

He shook his head and pointed to her, "There's that negative attitude, again."

"It's not going anywhere just yet."

After a moment of silence Lucas spoke up, "I'm sorry that I've been fighting with you lately."

"Don't be. You were sick of being around a life sucker. I don't blame you and I'm glad that you've broken free and put yourself out there to impress Brooke. I thought I'd never hear the end of, 'if I could just get her to notice me'"

He let out a sigh, "You sure you want to salvage your friendships? You're off to a terrible start."

"Why not? It's working out very easily for you." Peyton stood up and put her hands in the pockets of her leather jacket. She turned her back on him and walked back to her Comet.

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Anxious was only one word that could be used to describe Haley. This was something that she just had to do. One thing that wasn't going to change about Haley was her ability to just jump into something without discussing it. A relationship with a boy, who was more experienced than her, was definitely going to have to hear her out before anything ever happened.

She had no doubt that Nathan would, again, understand where she was coming from. That gave her a small sense of confidence that it was all going to be fine.

There was a knock on her door. She fought the urge to race to the door and find Nathan on the other side, so she controlled her steps. "Hey," she greeted him with a smile.

"Hey. I'm guessing that Brooke's still here since I saw her car in the driveway?" Nathan asked as he closed the door behind him.

"Yeah, she's actually sleeping upstairs. I just woke up about an hour ago."

"I don't want to know any details about why she's so tired." Nathan told her in a serious tone.

What did she want to talk about now? They haven't even been back together for an entire day and she was already telling him that they needed to talk. It worried him whenever she said that because it usually meant bad news for him.

"So, what's up?"

'I know that we're back together now. I just want to let you know that it's not going to be how you're used to it being, I was hoping that you would continue being the patient guy that you have been and try and help me be the way I'm supposed to be."

Nathan did miss Haley a lot, but this version of her was great to be around, too. He actually thought that the Haley standing in front of him was more human because she didn't act like the popular girl that he was used to dating. They didn't need to be the perfect couple. Her imperfections were what drew him in all over again. He did his best to keep his imperfections out of the relationship because they weren't on the small scale, like hers were.

"I've already had to deal with the fact that she's not coming back. You don't have to try so hard to be exactly like her. I'm dating you and I like you a lot. Can't we just focus on that?"

"That's sweet, Nathan. I just thought that it would be better if I was her because you and Brooke really seem to like that girl." Haley moved her hair behind her ear.

"Yeah, we do. Lucas and Peyton don't. I don't think Brooke would ever have gave Lucas a shot and I don't think you would have ever spoken to Lucas or Peyton if you tried being her."

Haley smiled as she gave Nathan a quick peck on the lips. "We're going to do this?"

"Are you going to stop asking so many questions and just live in the moment? I kind of prefer living in the moment." Nathan's arms were around her freely.

"I guess I could try."

Nathan nodded. "I like that answer." He brought his lips down to hers and gave her a loving kiss.

Even through all the bliss that was going on around her, there was one thing that Haley still feared: the future.

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**AN:** Thank you for the reviews last chapter and waiting for this one. This chapter didn't turn out the way I wanted it to originally, sadly. Below, I have outlined a new updating schedule for myself.

All stories will be updated in this order. **1**. Love and Basketball (Naley) **2.** Diary of a Decoy (Naley) **3.** Keep Dreaming Upside Down (Naley) **4**. Beautiful (Brucas) **5.** Come Alive Tonight (Brooke/Lucas/Clay). The next story in the list will not be updated until the previous story is complete. I want to try this schedule so I don't have more than one story to focus on. If you are waiting on a certain story, it is going to take time, but they will all be complete!

_Love and Basketball_- 1 chapter left.

_Diary of a Decoy- _4 chapters left

_Keep Dreaming Upside Down- _15 chapters left

_Beautiful- _To be determined at a later date

_Come Alive Tonight- _To be determined at a later date

I hope this is something that I can stick to. This is also posted on my profile page if you're ever interested into seeing how far things are going. It will be updated whenever I post a new chapter.

Finally, your thoughts are always appreciated!


	17. Hangover

_Oh my God, what's wrong with my head?_

_I'm sweating with the chills still in my bed_

_Tell me how I'll ever make it through_

_It's the short hellos and the long goodbyes_

_The shake in my lip from the look in your eyes_

_Makes me want to die_

_I've got the worst hangover from you_

"Hangover"- Hey Monday

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_Her conversation with Brooke from earlier had her worried. She wanted to hear about her boyfriend's future plans from him. It was crazy to consider having to discuss her future with a boy that she had only been dating for a few months, but it was important to her because she couldn't imagine being so far away from him. Nathan had this strong pull on her, which she has never been able to explain, not even to Brooke._

_Haley wondered if Nathan ever thought about those things, too. Would he want to know where she planned on going for college? Did he feel the same forceful pull that she felt whenever they were together?_

"_Haley James, am I glad that I found you!" Brooke bounded into Haley's backyard with a stack of papers. _

"_What's with all of that, Tigger? Did you forget about filling out your college applications at the last minute?" Haley asked her as she got up to give Brooke a quick hug._

_Brooke rested her free hand on her hip. "No. These," she passed one to Haley, "are for my end of the summer beach party. With Dan gone I suggested it to Nathan that we have a huge beach bash. It's the perfect time for everyone to hang out before we have to start our senior year and say goodbye. I need you to help me pass them out and hang them around town."_

_Her eyes quickly read over the flyer to make sure that Brooke didn't have any grammar errors from being so excited about having the biggest party of the year. _

"_This sounds like a ton of fun, B. I could use a night to party." She handed the flyer back to her._

_Brooke let out an anxious squeal. "Don't worry, it's going to be amazing. You and I are going to look so hot in our new bikinis that I bought along with all the party stuff. Nathan and the few of the guys from the team are on the beach setting up for the bonfire right now."_

_Haley let out a laugh. "You seem well prepared for this."_

_Brooke gave her a triumphant nod. "Of course I am. Brooke Penelope Davis is always on top of things when it comes to her own party. Okay, I'm going to get back in my car while you go inside and pack clothes to change in after we jump into the freeing water. Plan on staying the night at the beach house with Nate and me. Have I told you that I love you, Haley James?" _

"_I love you, too, Brooke Davis."_

"_You better, bitch." She blew Haley a kiss and winked before skipping back happily to her car. "Oh, and we're changing into our bikinis. We'll get rid of way more flyers that way and we'll stop by and check on the guys."_

_Haley shook her head at her friend's antics. _

_A party was just what she needed in order to keep the big questions off of her mind. The night was all about having a good time with her friends before they had to start acting serious about what was to become of them._

_._

_._

"_And that should be the last of it." Nathan said as he tossed another log into the mountainous pile that he and his friends spent the past hour building up. He took off his work gloves and wiped the sweat off of his brow._

"_And Haley and I posted and gave away every last flyer." With a huff, Brooke sat down on the sand._

"_I'm sure it was tiring, especially if you two walked around town looking like that." Tim eyed both girls and licked his lips._

_Nathan gave his friend a small shove. Both his boy crazed cousin and his girlfriend were wearing their cheer shorts and bikini tops. Brooke's was a bright yellow color and Haley's was white. It made her skin seem tanner and it was making Nathan sweat even more._

_Nathan walked over to Haley and wrapped his arms around her to greet her and to make sure the other guys couldn't catch a glimpse of his smoking hot girlfriend. _

"_Ew, Nathan, you're all sweaty." Haley giggled as she tried shoving Nathan away. Her tiny hands pushed against his sweat-clad chest. Through his t-shirt Haley could feel her boyfriend's perfectly sculpted chest muscles. _

_Nathan lowered his head and whispered in her ear, "Who's fault do you think that is?" _

_She blushed and was glad that he was standing in front of her. Luckily, Brooke was also out of earshot. She wriggled herself out of his grasp. _

_I have a question!" Tim shouted as he shot his hand straight up in the air eagerly._

"_What is it, Dim?" Brooke placed her sunglasses over her eyes as she laid down in the sand._

"_How are we going to get a keg for this party? The cops might come around and see all of us partying on the beach." _

"_I am not even drunk yet and your white ass questions are giving me a buzz kill," Skills said as he joined the small group. _

"_I might be the only one to say that Dim has a point. Whenever we do have a party crazy shit seems to go down." Nathan didn't need his father finding out about another one of his parties especially if his senior season hasn't even started yet. _

_He looked to Brooke. "So master party planner, what's your genius idea about this one?"_

_She sat up frustrated and lifted her sunglass off of her eyes to stare at Nathan. "I just thought that we would get away with it and before you scoff I'll let you know that people on TV get away with it, so we shouldn't have anything to worry about." _

"_That's great, B, I feel so much better now." Haley told her sarcastically before taking her place next to Nathan._

_The rest of the group muttered their own opinions._

"_Fine, then don't come to the party." Brooke said with a pout._

_Haley and Nathan decided to ignore the bickering that began to erupt between their friends and focus on their current status._

"_I noticed that you might need a little cool down after working so hard to build Brooke her fire." Haley told him innocently. She looked up to him with her doe brown eyes and licked her bottom lip playfully._

_Nathan raised his brow curiously. "Do you now?"_

"_That's right, Mister." Haley's fingers crawled up his chest teasingly as he let out a groan._

"_You want to know what I'm thinking?"_

"_I guess."_

"_Since you're the main the cause of getting me so worked up that you should have a moment of suffering." He placed his hands on her hips and massaged them roughly with his thumbs._

_Haley bit back her moan. "What kind of boyfriend wants to see his sweet innocent girlfriend suffer?" _

"_One that was unfairly seduced by his not so innocent girlfriend." Before he let her have another word in to drive him crazier, Nathan lifted Haley up over his shoulder and began carrying her down the beach. _

"_Nathan! Put me down!" Haley shouted as she tried punching him in the back. "Nathan, I'm being serious!"_

"_All right, Nate!" A few other catcalls and whistles came from the guys and even Brooke. _

_Nathan stopped when his feet hit where the waves collided with the sand. He positioned Haley so he could cradle her in his arms. A smirk was plastered on his face at the sight of Haley clinging her arms around his neck and hiding her face in his chest. There was no plan to throw her into the ice-cold water. All he wanted to do was rile her up the way she did to him. _

_Haley was bracing herself for the feeling of instantly falling into the frigid water. The frigid water would surround her body. When that wasn't happening Haley looked up to see Nathan's cocky smirk mocking her._

"_See, you're not the only one who is allowed to tease in this relationship." Nathan set her down on the shore. _

_Haley swatted at him before pulling him in for a kiss. She happily moaned against his lips when they broke apart. It was moments like this that she was going to miss with Nathan the most._

_._

_._

_The party was in full motion by the time the sun disappeared from where the water and the shy seemed to meet. Without the sun to keep her warm, Haley had gone inside to grab her Tree Hill Ravens sweatshirt. She kept her cheer shorts on, hoping that the fire would warm up her legs. _

_From the window she could see the glowing flames from the tiki lights that Brooke had the boys set up for her. She had never seen the beach so crowded from all of the people who were there. The only person that she had yet to see was Nathan. She had called him a few times to figure out where he was, but he hadn't answered. _

_As she walked down the wooden stairs of the beach house a smile appeared on her face. Nathan was there, looking like his sexy self, wearing his dark blue polo that she loved and a pair of khaki shorts. He had one hand in his pocket while the other held onto his plastic red cup. He was talking to Skills as they watched Tim trying to light up the bonfire._

_Haley's eyes stayed glued to him as she made her way over. "I was getting worried that you weren't going to show up," she commented while snaking her arms around his waist. She titled her head up to catch his lips in a sweet kiss. _

_Nathan took another sip of his beer before speaking, "My dad wanted me to fill out my application for Duke. He pretty much was staring over my shoulder the entire time. We got into an argument and here I am."_

"_Duke?" She acted confused._

_Nathan let out a sigh. "Hey, Skills," he offered his cup to his friend, "could you hold onto this for me?"_

"_No problem, dawg. You gonna go try that sex on the beach thang with Haley?"_

"_No," Haley blurted out while the soft glow of the torches illuminated her face to show her blush. _

"_If that's your story. It would be the highlight of the party until Tim lights his ass on fire." Skills nodded to the couple as he took the cup from Nathan. _

_Nathan chuckled he took Haley's hand and led her away from the other people. "I know we haven't really discussed our plans about college and stuff yet. The truth is that I don't what to say about any of it."_

_She didn't exactly feel the same way about it as he did. Haley had so many questions about it and she didn't know where to start. _

_She swallowed the lump in her throat, "Do you think we should break up, then?"_

"_What?" He asked her incredulously. "Of course not, I want to be with you, Haley. Do you?"_

"_No, but if we decided to go to different school then we would have to do that whole long distant thing. I don't want to do that. I don't think I could take being away from you and having to try so hard to make things work between us."_

_He nodded in agreement. "What school were you thinking about going to? It seems that you have this long distant relationship scenario worked out in your head. Where are you going?"_

"_I applied to Stanford. I don't know if I'm even going to be accepted yet and it's the only place I applied to."_

"_You'll get in. Haley, you're pretty much the smartest one in our school and you've been involved with different activities. You're practically a shoe in."_

"_Pretty much?" She asked jokingly. _

_Nathan smiled as he shifted his weight. "I never thought I was going to ever get you to go out with me and now that we're dating I don't want to let you go. We should have discussed this earlier. I know that and I never thought I was capable of falling in love. I did though and that's all I wanted to focus on."_

"_You love me?" She asked in amazement._

"_I do, you goof. I love you and that's all that matters to me. We could end up going in completely different directions, but that's not going to change how I feel about you right now." He took a few steps closer to her and held her hands in his._

_She smiled and connected their lips together in a long passionate kiss. "I love you, too," she whispered, "and the rest we can figure out later." _

"_Sounds good to me." Nathan wrapped his arms securely around her petite waist and lifted her off the ground as she brought her lips to hers again. _

_Neither noticed the flash of the camera as they continued leaving each other breathless. _

_._

_._

"What are you looking at?" Nathan walked into Haley's room and noticed that she was staring intently at her wall. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on top of her head.

"That summer must have been a blast." Haley closed her eyes and leaned into Nathan's embrace.

Nathan smirked at the memories of the end of that previous summer. "It sure was. Are you okay?"

Haley nodded. "Of course I am. I was just trying to imagine how fun life must have been. I don't have many friends and the ones I have wouldn't drink or party. It's kind of eerie looking at these photographs and seeing my face and knowing that it's not really me just makes me wonder why not."

She thought that way more often than she used to. It was because she finally involving herself in this life. Nathan was now her boyfriend, well again, and her and Brooke were extremely close. The pictures felt like a haunting ghost and Haley couldn't figure out how to give it peace.

"Don't worry so much about some silly pictures. Let's just head out and go meet Brooke and Lucas." His arms slipped off of her waist. "Does that surprise you at all?"

"Hmm?" Haley turned around to face him.

"That I am actually going to go hang out with my old best friend, who is oddly enough, yours too. Plus, he's dating my cousin. It's just all a mixed blur to me."

Haley nodded in agreement. "Yeah, but, look at it this way; I agreed to take another chance on you, knowing that I really can't stand you. You have that same chance with Lucas."

He sent her a small smile and put his hands in his pockets. "It makes sense when you put it that way."

"Happy to be of help. We should probably get going. You know how Brooke gets if we're late."

Nathan wrapped his arm around Haley and led her out of her room. "At least I'm not the only one."

.

**AN: **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I loved writing this because I can finally write Naley as a relationship (even though it was the 'Haley' Nathan and Brooke truly know) I thought I would give you some Naley fluff, for once. The flashbacks were from a certain photograph that was described in chapter 3.

Please Review and I'll be posting my first Christmas one-shot around the holidays!


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